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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Maluti-a-Phofung expresses shock at the lack of any contingency plans for backup power at the four major water treatment plants in the latest Draft Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for 2023/2024. The DA has been calling for such plans for the continuous pumping of water during loadshedding schedules. The Constitution and The Water Service Act require municipalities and their water entities to supply basic water to communities and take steps to realise this right. An IDP is a perfect opportunity to put these plans into action, yet the MAP16 coalition-run municipality has chosen to ignore the imminent water crisis facing all communities in MaP.

The DA will insist that the IDP address this issue before its approval at the end of May. Loadshedding will be with all South Africans for the foreseeable future, and with every scheduled load shed, water treatment plants come to a standstill. This omission is a colossal failure and indictment against the municipality.

It is hard to believe that, through all the submissions and public participation exercises, the municipality could not come to a conclusion that contingency plans for continuous water need to be made as a matter of urgency. This is further proof that all these processes are just tick-box exercises for the municipality, and the needs of communities are blatantly ignored.

Water remains the number one priority for MaP, and we urge the municipality to rectify this issue urgently.

The DA will continue to raise critical infrastructure issues and the right to a basic water supply to all levels of government.

Issued by Eleanor Quinta - DA Councillor Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality