The residents of nine towns in the Free State’s Xhariep District have been left without water in the middle of a Covid-19 pandemic as Bloemwater has turned off the taps of the Kopanong Local Municipality. The affected towns are Gariep Dam, Fauresmith, Edenburg, Trompsburg, Reddersburg, Bethulie, Jaggersfontein, Philippolis and Springfontein.
This comes after countless debt payment requests made by Bloemwater to the Municipality, of an ever-accumulating amount that, as at 23 August 2020, stood at R392 million. Yesterday, the Executive Mayor of the Municipality, Cllr Xolile Mathwa, promised residents that this matter would be resolved and that they would have water today.
However, this promise remains empty as residents are still without water. This is incredibly alarming considering that the world is faced with a Covid-19 pandemic that requires citizens to wash their hands regularly.
Given the obvious threat attributed to the lack of water, the Democratic Alliance (DA) remains concerned of the following:
- The Municipality has a population of about 49 999 residents all of whom have the constitutional right of access to water as enshrined in Chapter 2 of the Constitution.
- The disturbance of water supply in this Municipality results in a diminished water capacity for the Jaggersfontein and Tromsburg hospitals as backup water reserves become depleted. Should this backup supply also run dry, it would place patients who depend on the already failing public healthcare system at an even greater risk.
As a result of the Municipality’s failure to secure water for its residents, private borehole owners have assumed the responsibility of the state by using their private reserves to help residents without water. This increased dependency on the borehole system has threatened the general lifeline of water supply in the Municipality as boreholes risk running dry.
The Kopanong Local Municipality, under the executive administration of the ANC, lacks the capacity to manage its finances, take decisions that are in the best interest of its residents, and effectively carry out its constitutional mandate of providing residents with access to water. By leaving residents without water, the Municipality has without any provocation, created additional strain on poorer communities, who have to safeguard against Covid-19 infection without any stable water supply.
The DA calls for the urgent intervention by the MEC of COGTA and the Premier in resolving this matter. Being committed to fight against corruption, poor governance and the protection of rights and freedoms of all our people in the Free State, the DA will engage the issue further through the Legislature in order to ensure that those responsible are held accountable for their poor governance.