By Chris Dalton | DA Councillor Moqhaka Local Municipality
Note to editors: Please find attached English soundbite by Cllr Chris Dalton, Afrikaans soundbite by Cllr Linda Louwrens and Sesotho soundbite by Jafta Mokoena MPL
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will urgently engage Moqhaka Municipality leadership and demand a comprehensive plan to ensure that water is pumped into storage dams during the rainy season. Failure to act now risks worsening the water crisis, impacting the health, livelihoods, and future of our communities.
Despite repeated assurances and engagements with senior officials, including the Acting Municipal Manager, the Director of Technical Services, and the Head of Electricity, the pumps remain unprepared year after year. Water is life, and the inability to pump it into storage during the rainy season is not just an operational failure—it’s a dereliction of duty.
As the rainy season brings much-needed water past Kroonstad, it is unacceptable that the municipality’s leadership continue to allow this critical resource to go to waste. Crime and unemployment are indeed pressing issues, but they cannot excuse this recurring negligence. If those tasked with resolving the issue fail to act, they are complicit in exacerbating the problem.
The DA has already called for an urgent portfolio meeting with the Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) to address this crisis head-on. We will not rest until a workable, accountable solution is implemented. The community deserves better.
The DA will propose a detailed maintenance and operational schedule for the pumps, along with regular accountability reports to ensure the problem is permanently resolved.