The municipality’s wishy-washy response to requests to provide water tankers timeously during the current Rand Water emergency has disgusted residents and DA councillors alike, reads a statement issued by the Democratic Alliance Councillors of Mogale City.
“We now understand why the people of Bekkersdal launched their campaign!” declared a local resident on the fourth day of the crisis when realising that the water tanker had still not arrived at the prescribed point.
The DA of Mogale City realises that there are circumstances in the current crisis that are beyond the control of the municipality. The Eskom/ Rand Water debacle, which triggered the widespread water emergency across many municipalities a week ago, cannot be laid at the feet of the Council.
But its inaction in providing tankers on a regular basis to citizens, who have suffered without water for five days, is totally unjustified and indefensible. Especially with its history of badly managed water crises in the past such as late last year, it should be well versed in remediating such disruptions by providing tankers efficiently and setting up communication networks to keep residents and councillors informed.
The Policy on Deviations from Budgeted Expenditure allows the municipality to allocate additional expenditure in emergencies. It owes it to the residents and must take a firm stand, in line with residents’ constitutional right to water.
Incompetence, the inability to make decisions or rumoured internal disagreements in the ANC-run Council cannot be an excuse for not supplying tankers consistently to our residents during a crisis. Political decision-makers and departmental heads seem to have hindered the process and citizens have to bear the brunt.
Legislation provides for it and the DA of Mogale will call for a formal enquiry into the ANC’s intransigence in failing to send tankers to water-strapped wards continuously during a prolonged water crisis.
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