Forum credits unity for ending 7-week water crisis
Urgent repair work was approved just hours after a petition was started.
Following a gruelling seven-week-long water interruption, there finally seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel as water is slowly starting to make its return in Newcastle West.
Johan Pieters of the Newcastle Growth Coalition Chapter and the Newcastle Concerned Residents Forum said he believed this was a result of unity among the town’s people over the past two weeks.
Petition puts pressure on municipality
The forum was created and an online petition was created on October 19, which almost immediately put immense pressure on the municipality to get the water crisis fixed.
“Within just a couple of days, we reached over 3000 signatures from residents demanding water and basic service delivery. With this, we were able to put together a memorandum which we handed over to municipal management on Monday after our residents held a peaceful march,” said Pieters.
Pieters also mentioned that urgent repair work was approved just hours after the petition had started, which prompted a three-day water shutdown in order to fix the entire system.
This, according to Pieters, proved that when it counts, the people of Newcastle are able to stand together and make a difference.
National attention prompts high-level meeting
The petition and march did not just grab the attention of local council; it also gained national attention, prompting a meeting between the forum, National CoGTA, Provincial CoGTA, the Department of Water & Sanitation (national and provincial), and senior staff of Newcastle Municipality.
“We will keep the community posted on actions by National Government, Provincial Government and local,” said Pieters.
He continued that, “We would like to thank the community of Newcastle and political parties who stood together as from October 19, who signed the online petition and took part in the march and handover of our petition.”
He noted that they had still not received feedback from Newcastle Municipality as at their 48-hour deadline, but they could see action on the ground and they congratulate the municipality on taking immediate action regarding the water crisis.
Going forward, Pieters said the aim was to grow the forum, which will then continue to hold those in charge to account for service delivery failures.
“We will soon be opening the forum to the public to join. Regardless of who is in charge after November 4, we will hold anyone and everyone accountable from now on,” he concluded.
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