For the past four years the Dawid Kruiper municipality has been in contravention of the Water Services Act by robbing a large portion of Upington residents of their right to access safe and reliable drinking water.
Communities from Sesbrugge, Kalksloot and Klippunt are affected by little to no water pressure due to a massive water leak that has since created a pool of fresh water along the N14. The pool, which can be found just two meters from the edge of the road, is 10 meters wide and 3 meters deep.
The water pressure in Sesbrugge is extremely low. While this community gets a limited supply of water, it eventually runs out leaving many residents without a drop of water.
In Klippunt, where most residents are farmers, there is also a critical lack of water.
Not only is the municipality violating residents’ basic right to access drinkable water, it is also aggravating the harsh living and working conditions of farmers in the area.
These conditions are life threatening, due to the extreme heat conditions which is exacerbated by a lack of water. We cannot allow more tragic fatalities like the unfortunate incident involving Kakamas farm workers in 2019, who succumbed to heat exhaustion.
While these issues have been reported to the municipality on numerous occasions and millions were allocated to address the problem, there is still no political will to permanently resolve this water issue and halt the wastage of thousands of liters of potable water going to waste every day.
Given that Upington has a dry climate and is prone to veld fires, the lack of water leaves farmers in the area at greater risk of losing their livestock and crops, should such disaster recur in that area.
Nobody should be living in such conditions and our plight to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) was that this matter be prioritized to ensure that water to these areas is restored immediately and permanently.
The DA has also launched a petition against the Kalksloot issue and we are gathering signatures from community members, demanding that water leaks be urgently fixed.
The DA is the only party that does not violate the rights and dignity of voters in South Africa by robbing them of their access to water. People need to rescue the Northern Cape from a growing water crisis and vote for the DA, that will work hard to ensure that water is restored to our communities without compromise and without fail.