Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Cllr Mariska Potgieter and Sesotho soundbite by David Masoeu MPL.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Letsemeng will pursue clear action plans and accountability on the ongoing water crisis from the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), particularly given that the MEC seconded the Acting Municipal Manager.
Should the water crisis continue to be treated without the urgency it requires, the DA will have no option but to re-engage the South African Human Rights Commission to protect residents’ constitutional rights.
Residents across Letsemeng, in all five towns (Koffiefontein, Jacobsdal, Oppermans, Petrusburg and Luckhoff), are furious over water supply issues.
Chairperson of the Technical Portfolio, ANC councillor Itumeleng Ramohlabi, should see this as a serious issue. Since the reshuffling of portfolio committees in the Letsemeng Local Municipal Council in May 2025, he has not tabled even one report to the Executive Mayoral Committee to table in Council.
This reflects serious oversight failures by the council, which is responsible for overseeing the municipality’s infrastructure and finances. Under his watch as MMC for Technical Services at the Letsemeng Local Municipality, water supply issues have worsened dramatically, and it is time the ANC-governed municipality accepts that it has failed the residents of Letsemeng.
It is unacceptable to force residents to beg for water in this day and age when water is a basic human right. Many residents go without a sufficient water supply for days, and sometimes for weeks.
Despite these serious failures in service delivery that contribute to the water crises, Acting Municipal Manager, Ms. Sindiswa Maneli took a cruise from South Africa to Mozambique instead of addressing the failures in the municipality.
The DA will demand a detailed response to the Human Rights Commission’s report to ensure the focus is returned to this issue and that those responsible are held accountable.
The DA has found that many of the causes for the failure in supplying sufficient water is due to lack of maintenance of old infrastructure, poor planning, a HAWKS investigation that brought the Water Treatment Plant Project to a standstill, lack of equipment and material to address breakages, electricity failures and many more issues that are contributing to the failure to supply water to all residents sufficiently.