The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng has received hundreds of signatures from angry residents in the province who have been negatively impacted by the abrupt water cuts in the various parts of the province.

Residents have experienced interruptions in their supply of water when Rand Water embarks on maintenance of their bulk infrastructure.

The municipalities are unable to plan properly when the maintenance does occur because they do not receive timeous communications from Rand Water.

Residents then take their frustrations out on their ward councillors and the municipality as they expect to receive a continuous supply of water from the municipality.

Furthermore, municipalities do not have sufficient water tankers and budget to provide water tankers to the areas affected by Rand Water's infrastructure maintenance.

Proper communication from Rand Water’s maintenance plans, ideally before the start of the new financial year, will ensure that all municipalities in the province are able to properly plan and budget for extra water tankers to be procured when the need arises.

The DA will continue with its efforts to engage with the National Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, Premier David Makhura and Rand Water on this matter. So far, our letters requesting a meeting and intervention from Provincial Government have been met with silence. This shows that they clearly have little regard for our basic human rights as enshrined in the Constitution.

We urge all our residents affected by Rand Water’s incompetence to sign our petition here to ensure that there is an uninterrupted supply of water in the province.

 

Issued by Official Leader of the Opposition-Gauteng, Solly Msimanga MPL