Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Sesotho soundbites by Cllr Hismajesty Maqhubu and Afrikaans soundbite by David Mc Kay MPL.
The DA in Tokologo has written to the MEC of the Provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) and the national Department of Water and Sanitation, calling on them to immediately restore the water supply in Ward 3, after over two weeks of total disruption affecting Town and Dikgalaope.
The municipality’s excuse of broken borehole pumps and unavailable spare parts is hollow. What is more damning is the absence of any contingency plan. There have been no water tankers, no emergency relief, and no effort to ease the suffering of the poor. Instead, residents have been abandoned to thirst, disease, and indignity.
When the community expected answers, the Mayor, who is also the ward councillor of the affected area, failed to show leadership and accountability. He cancelled the long-awaited community meeting, offering only vague, partisan reasons. This act of evasion is a betrayal of trust and a slap in the face of the very people he was elected to serve.
Enough is enough. The DA demands the immediate restoration of water supply in Ward 3 and a clear, time-bound plan to prevent future crises. We also call for accountability from the Mayor and Tokologo Local Municipality for failing to discharge their constitutional obligations.
This is about more than water. It is about justice, dignity, and the survival of our people. The Constitution states that everyone has the right to sufficient water. Tokologo Local Municipality has failed, and Ward 3 will not remain silent.
We call upon civil society, churches, and human rights defenders to stand with the residents of Ward 3. We call upon every resident to raise their voice, because silence in the face of injustice is complicity.