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SAHRC requested to address Burgersdorp water crisis

Dear Editor

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has laid a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in an effort to address the dire water crisis experienced in Burgersdorp in the Walter Sisulu Local Municipality.

This crisis is not only hitting hard in the town of Burgersdorp, but also in local areas such as Mzamomhle, Thembisa and Eureka.

Despite the JL de Bruin dam, one of the main suppliers of raw water to the local water treatment plant, being filled to capacity, certain high-lying areas have been experiencing dry taps since 19 November 2023. This is happening while watershedding is also being implemented.

The ANC-led Joe Gqabi District Municipality (JGDM) is responsible for providing water and sanitation services to the local municipality, but is totally unable to fulfil its mandate.

During a recent meeting with the JGDM municipal water manager, DA Cllr Matthee Nel was informed that the district municipality is unable to deliver water carting to suffering residents.

In November 2022, I wrote to the EC MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Zolile Williams, and requested that he delivers a plan to protect municipal water pump stations from constant vandalism. Due to vandalism and a total lack of maintenance only four of the nine boreholes supplying water to the local water treatment works are currently operational. I am still awaiting a reply from MEC Williams.

In February 2023, I wrote the JGDM municipal manager requesting that he urgently provides a plan to combat the effects of loadshedding that is causing delays in water purification, but I am still to receive a reply.

Access to water is a basic human right, but MEC Williams and the district municipality seems hell-bent on depriving residents of this constitutional right. It is for this reason that the DA was left with no other choice than to turn to the SAHRC.

The DA will not falter in this fight to rescue the residents of Burgersdorp from a government that does not care about their basic human rights.

Regards

Marina van Zyl MP
New Horizon Constituency Leader

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