Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Sesotho soundbites by Cllr Stone Makhema and Afrikaans soundbite by Dr Igor Scheurkogel MP. See attached video here.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Metsimaholo will write to the Municipal Manager to seek responses on the current water supply interruptions in Deneysville and Refengkgotso. This is after there was no water supply for more than two days since the early hours of Saturday.
We have been informed that a panel fault occurred on Friday, and yet no prior warning or alert was sent to residents about the possible water outage.
According to Section 27 (1)(b) of our Constitution, everyone has the right to access sufficient food and water. The state is obligated to take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of this right. Section 27 of the Bill of Rights is supported by the Water Services Act 108 of 1997, which ensures access to basic water supply and sanitation. It is the responsibility of local municipalities to realise these rights.
The municipality’s delayed communication about the possible water outage and the lack of a schedule for water tanker interventions has added further frustration to the already neglected community. The municipality must also ensure that water tank interventions are provided to residents without preference for one over the other, based on perceived voter base.
Our main concern above is the appointment of a service provider to transport water to these areas, whilst our employees who are supposed to do the very same job are reported to be idling, confused about why there was really a need to source a supplier for that purpose.
One wonders which supply chain process was used, as quickly as it was, to outsource such a service when, at most times, we had delays in appointing. The comparison between overtime and the outsourced service will reveal a major difference, and we will wait for answers to be convinced why such a decision was taken, unless there was a gain to an unknown party.
We have contacted the municipality and were assured that a specialised outsourced company will be working at the water purification plant today to fix the problem.
As we seek answers from the Municipal Manager, we will continue to monitor the process to its conclusion and keep our residents abreast of the progress.