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It is unacceptable that a dispute between Gamagara Municipality and Sedibeng water is permitted to continue depriving residents of Olifantshoek of the basic right to water.

The community of Olifantshoek has battled water restrictions for several years. The situation has worsened and is now consistent with residents only intermittently receiving water after 12 days or even more, depending on where the flow is gravitating towards quicker.

This situation is dire. Children cannot attend school and day care. Businesses that are dependent on water are suffering. People are not going to work and are at risk of losing their jobs. At the same time, Covid-19 infections are increasing. People are expected to stay safe by washing their hands regularly, but the people of Olifantshoek cannot.

The municipality has placed JoJo tanks in Olifantshoek, but there are not enough for all areas of the town. People come from afar with their buckets and stand in long lines. The elderly are worst affected, as some of them are not staying with younger people to help with the carrying of water containers to and from the JoJo tanks.

The DA also previously arranged for tanks from Kathu to be placed in areas of Olifantshoek that are without JoJo tanks (see pics here and here). Sadly, however, the municipality has politicized the issue and those tanks are not being filled as frequently as the other tanks.

There have been no answers from the municipality as to what the real problem is. Yesterday, however, the ongoing dispute between Gamagara and Sedibeng was again placed under the spotlight, with Gamagara claiming they don’t owe Sedibeng anything, while Sedibeng insists that they do.

The Democratic Alliance addressed the matter with COGHSTA at a legislature portfolio committee meeting this morning. We are expecting a full report from the department. We will also report it to our colleagues in parliament, for them to take forward at a national level.

The DA in the Northern Cape has previously also reported water matters relating to Gamagara municipality to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), which helped to effect temporary solutions. A new and more sustainable intervention, however, is now urgently required and we will submit a new complaint.

The situation has gone on too long to be ignored any longer. We hope that a speedy response by the department, coupled with an independent investigation by the SAHRC, will shed light on the matter and enforce actions that will see residents’ basic right to access to water restored urgently.

Water is an increasingly scarce and critical resource. Water supply must be respected and protected by municipalities. Water must also not be used as a bargaining tool.

Issued by The DA