Africa-Press – South-Africa. Johannesburg – The DA in Gauteng said it was “deeply concerned” that Emfuleni local municipality residents were currently experiencing water shortages.
The party said it is worrying that water shortages in Emfuleni have been an ongoing issue without a lasting solution between Rand Water and the municipality.
As a results, residents are now suffering as they have to walk long distances to fetch water for household purposes and are unable to use the ablution facilities, the DA said.
On Tuesday, the municipality issued a public announcement stating that it was aware of the water shortages currently affecting large parts of Emfuleni due to additional water supply reductions imposed on the municipality by Rand Water as a credit control measure since February 25.
“Higher lying areas in Vereeniging, Evaton, Sebokeng, Vanderbijlpark, Bophelong, Roshnee and Rus-Ter-Vaal will be most affected by reductions.
“The municipality is currently in talks with Rand Water in an effort to find lasting solutions. We apologise for inconveniences and further encourage residents to use water sparingly at all times,” Emfuleni Municipality said.
However, Kingsol Chabalala, the DA’s Emfuleni North Constituency Head said the country was experiencing the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and a third wave was also anticipated.
One of the ways in which the spread of the virus could be curbed was by regularly washing of hands, he said.
“How can Emfuleni residents adhere to the health protocol of regularly washing hands when they are experiencing water shortages?
“Despite the fact that Emfuleni has been placed under administration, the water challenges have still not been resolved.
“This clearly indicates that the administrators are failing to rescue Emfuleni from a financial crisis and to deliver services to the residents,” said Chabalala.
The DA called on the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Lebogang Maile to intervene and facilitate an agreement between Emfuleni administrators and Rand Water to ensure that water pressure is restored so that residents can have access to a normal flow of water as is their basic human right.
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