The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the response by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) that it will investigate the DA complaint on the water crisis in Ephraim Mogale.

The complaint to the SAHRC follows after an oversight visit to Ephraim Mogale Local Municipality during June 2021 where the DA found people in ditches, desperately digging for water. The water was murky, possibly contaminated and surrounded by animal faeces and other rubbish.

For years, the ANC-run municipality has been unable to provide water for the residents in the majority of its wards. Residents in the area advise that they have not seen a water truck making deliveries of water for months, and when the truck does come, it only services a select few and often requests payment of R3 per drum from the poorest of the poor.

It comes as no surprise that the SAHRC advised the DA that our complaint was just one of many received in the Sekhukhune District of Limpopo.

The Sekhukhune District Municipality, along with the Ephraim Mogale Municipality and Elias Motsoaledi Municipality have a track record of being among the worst managed municipalities in Limpopo and were among those who squandered millions in the VBS Bank scandal.

The mismanagement and corruption have resulted in the residents of the area being denied the most basic of their rights – particularly the right to clean water.

The Western Cape and DA governed municipalities understand that water is essential to life, health, and economic development. It is the building block to human life and of every municipality.

The DA looks forward to the SAHRC report. We are convinced that the universal right to access to clean water will be upheld and that these municipalities will be held accountable.

A DA governed municipality will ensure that the community has access to reliable, clean, running water, that is safe to drink and to prepare food – as it is proven of where the DA governs, we get things done.

 

Issued by DA Constituency Head - Citrus Valley Lindy Wilson