The lack of urgency displayed by Deputy President David Mabuza, to the R31 flooding crisis in Kimberley, shows that he is not taking his previous commitment to oversee the inter-ministerial task team on infrastructure repairs in Sol Plaatje municipality, seriously.
During the plenary with the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) yesterday, it was clear that Mabuza is ether purposefully playing down the issue, or that he is being fed falsehoods from the Northern Cape government and the Sol Plaatje municipality. This will not surprise us, given that both the provincial and local governments knowingly turned a blind eye, for 18 years, to the escalating sewage and freshwater leaks, that subsequently submerged the R31.
In response to my questions and verbal invitation for him to accompany me on a further oversight inspection in Kimberley, Mabuza non-committedly indicated that he will head back to the city if the DA thinks it’s necessary. However, he said nothing about timelines or financial commitments to address the significant water and sewerage infrastructure challenges in Sol Plaatje. He also appeared to be under the impression that everything was under control.
Clearly, he doesn’t know the half of it.
Ad hoc repairs to major leaking pipelines are not a long-term solution because leaks will recur, as happened after 14 major leaks were repaired in 2019. The lifting of the flooded R31 road by 1,5 meters – at a cost of over R32 million – is also not a long term solution, if the entire water and sewage system do not get the attention that they need. One only has to consider that water levels were reportedly rising by as much as 40 mm per day, or that the pan into which water and sewage is being diverting, to lower the levels along the R31, will simply develop into another lake further along the R31, if leaks are not permanently attended to.
At the same time, Mabuza did not even acknowledge my concerns about a similar situation unfolding along the N12. This is despite the Department for Roads and Public Works having admitted this to the legislature just two weeks ago.
The DA is not blowing the matter of the R31 out of proportion. We are facing a crisis of epic proportions and the government is not treating this with the urgency required to stop Kimberley from transforming into a mini Venice, with streets of water and sewage.
I will extend a written invitation to Deputy President Mabuza, to accompany me on a no holds barred oversight inspection of a number of sites where leaks have taken hold, so that he can see for himself just how dire the Sol Plaatje water and sewage crisis has become and familiarise himself with the raw and devastating facts, free of ANC lies.