By Thabo Nthapo & Mariska Potgieter | DA Councillors Letsemeng Municipality
Note to editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Cllr Mariska Potgieter and Sesotho soundbite by Jafta Mokoena MPL
The Democratic Alliance (DA) holds the Letsemeng Municipality accountable for its failure to deliver basic services during the festive season. The DA will intensify pressure on the municipality to urgently resolve the outstanding service delivery and maintenance issues.
Throughout December, the residents of Jacobsdal, Koffiefontein, Luckhoff, and Petrusburg were without water and electricity for weeks. Despite the DA’s prior warnings to the council and administration about the municipality’s lack of preparedness, these warnings were ignored, leaving the community to suffer.
The lack of proactive maintenance and stockpiling of essential materials caused preventable disasters:
- In Koffiefontein, poor planning during a road project in Diamanthoogte led to frequent damage to water infrastructure, causing significant water losses and prolonged outages.
- In Petrusburg, an unmaintained transformer burnt out, cutting off electricity and, consequently, the water supply. Many residents are still without a consistent water supply.
- Across Letsemeng, street and high-mast lights remain unrepaired, leaving residents in dangerously dark streets during the festive season despite promises from municipal administration.
The situation was worsened by administrative failures, as residents could not access municipal statements due to server issues even before the municipality went on recess. This poor planning and lack of responsiveness highlight a failure of leadership and governance.
The DA strongly believes in employee wellness and acknowledges its importance in a productive municipality. However, the municipality’s decision to proceed with the festive season recess while service delivery challenges remained unaddressed was irresponsible and ill-timed.
Had the municipality proactively addressed infrastructure and maintenance issues, the festive season could have been a true celebration for residents. Instead, communities were left frustrated and struggling with basic needs.
We are committed to ensuring that the ongoing water, electricity, and infrastructure issues are resolved urgently, with a focus on sustainable solutions.
We will not rest until basic services are reliably provided to the people of Letsemeng.