Rustenburg communities enter week 3 without water supply
1 April 2020
Note to Editors: Please find the attached soundbite in English and Afrikaans by Johan Cronje, DA Councillor in Rustenburg.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Rustenburg has written to the Minister of COGTA, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, requesting urgent intervention regarding the interruption of water supply to areas such as Geelhout Park and Tlhabane West.
Residents from these areas have now endured three weeks with no access to water.
Last week Saturday, Rustenburg Local Municipality released a statement stating that they have recommissioned a bulk line to provide water to these areas.
The DA asked municipal officials to intervene, however, their response was that the water cuts were due to restrictive measures being implemented to stabilise the water system.
This is not the first time residents have been forced to be without water. Last year October residents were without water for three weeks, and no communication regarding the restrictive measures or any indication of repairs was communicated by the municipality.
The DA then reported Rustenburg Local Municipality to the Human Rights Commission for failing to uphold residents’ basic human rights to portable water. This intervention alleviated the problem for a short period but in December the problem reoccurred.
During December work was undertaken on an old reticulation line which would have resolved the matter permanently and until January, water supply appeared to stabilise, only for the crisis to start again during February, continued into March.
To date, Minister Dlamini-Zuma has still not responded to our call to restore water to residents of Rustenburg. The DA has further written to the office of the Presidency requesting urgent intervention to resolve this crisis.
The DA will continue engaging with the municipality and relevant departments to ensure that stable water supply is restored to all affected areas.
The supply of potable water is a basic human right guaranteed in the Constitution and it is imperative that residents receive stable water supply to their homes.
Issued byJohan Cronje,DA Councillor: Rustenburg Local Municipality, 1 April 2020
