*PRESS RELEASE
The Democratic Alliance (DA) yesterday joined hands with Kimberley residents and led a march against Sol Plaatje municipality’s ongoing water crisis.
For years, Kimberley residents have continued to bear the brunt of Sol Plaatje’s glaring water infrastructure failures, with nightly water cuts, planned and unplanned water shutdowns and more recently even daytime water cuts causing havoc in the lives and livelihoods of residents and visitors to the city.
Over the past years, numerous attempts to get local, provincial and national government to give attention to the ongoing Kimberley water crisis have fallen on deaf ears.
As the DA, we have been fighting for Kimberley’s water sustainability for years. We previously lodged complaints with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in December last year, and before that early in 2021. The case files are still open. We will further update these bodies with the latest information.
The DA also laid a complaint with the Public Protector’s Office in April 2022, of which draft findings were recently received and are due to be finalized soon.
We have further raised Sol Plaatje’s water issues in parliament and directly with former Deputy President, David Mabuza, dating back to November 2020. In addition to numerous oversight inspections of water infrastructure, and oversight and assistance provided during water shutdowns, we have also addressed our concerns on numerous occasions in council and directly with the Municipal Manager, the Speaker and the Mayor. In November last year, I also personally spoke to the MEC of COGHSTA, Bentley Vass, during the unplanned shutdown, but again nothing has come of his commitment to intervene.
Today, out of utter frustration with Sol Plaatje and desperation for a sustainable supply of water, we have handed over a memorandum of demand to the Sol Plaatje Municipal Manager. The DA also simultaneously submitted a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa, Minister of Department of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, and Minister of CoGTA, Thembi Nkadimeng further appealing for an intervention.
We have requested a formal response to our demands within 14 working days from now. We have further given notice that Sol Plaatje’s failure to respond reasonably to these demands within the allocated time period, will leave us with no other choice but to approach parliament to present our case for placing the entire Sol Plaatje municipality under administration, as well as to lay criminal charges against Sol Plaatje municipality in respect of violations of the Water Act.
The people of Kimberley have had enough and will never allow the debilitating water cuts to be normalized by local, provincial and national government.
*PRESS RELEASE
*THIS PRESS RELEASE WAS PAID FOR BY THE MENTIONED POLITICAL PARTY
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