The Victor Khanye Local Municipality (VKLM) released a statement yesterday in which it aimed to shed some light on what had led to the murder of Eloff resident, Calvin Mothoa on February 8.

The statement, issued from the office Executive Mayor, refers to allegations ciculating in the community and on social media that the shooting was a result of the municipality’s failure to provide water.

“This narrative is misleading and factually incorrect. At the time of the incident, there was water supply available in Sundra and Eloff.

“Municipal records and operational reports confirm that the area was receiving water and there was no service outage reported that could have contributed to the unfortunate incident.”

According to the VKLM, both the deceased (Mothoa) and the alleged shooter, Adriaan van Tonder (70) were tenants residing on the same property and shared a single water meter.

This is contradictory to the provincial media release in which the police mentioned a dispute about a JoJo tank. The VKLM statement indicated that the water meter is installed on Van Tonder’s side of the property.

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The statement further reads:

It is alleged that the suspect had closed the water supply from this shared meter, which resulted in water not reaching the deceased’s side of the residence.

It was when the deceased went to investigate why water was not coming through that an altercation ensued between the two individuals, which tragically led to the shooting.

As VKLM, we want to emphasise the following:
1. The incident was not caused by a municipal failure of water provision.

2. It arose from a private domestic dispute relating to access to a shared water connection.3. The matter is now in the hands of law enforcement authorities, and we urge the community to allow due legal processes to unfold.

We further call on residents to refrain from spreading unverified information that may create unnecessary panic, damage the reputation of the municipality, or inflame community tensions.

VKLM remains committed to ensuring reliable water provision across all wards and will continue to communicate transparently with communities regarding any service delivery challenges.

We extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased during this difficult time and call for calm, unity, and responsible engagement from all members of the community.

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