The Democratic Alliance (DA) has submitted a complaint to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), as large parts of Olifantshoek enter their ninth week without water.
Olifantshoek’s water dried up after eight of the town’s 14 boreholes were vandalized and plundered, leaving them dysfunctional.
The DA’s decision to report the matter to the SAHRC was prompted by Gamagara municipality’s failure to present its water restoration strategy, for the Olifantshoek water crisis, to council yesterday. We expected to see a complete and ready plan, but the municipality failed to take this seriously.
This confirmed our fears that, aside from merely testing the boreholes over the weekend, they still have no concrete plan to solve the town’s ongoing and debilitating water shortages.
Despite the DA’s request, Gamagara has not investigated the exorbitant water tankering charges, costing the municipality more than R1,130 million per month, with total accumulated outstanding debt for water tankers now standing at over R3,278 million.
This money could have contributed to the replacement and repair of stolen and damaged infrastructure at the boreholes.
The municipality has also not acted on the DA’s previous call to review its expired, month-to-month security contract, following the assault on the town’s boreholes.
Conditions therefore remain conducive to the ongoing exploitation of the water system, as opposed to the sustainable restoration of water provision to the community.
We have reported this gross violation of the community’s basic right to access water to the SAHRC. A swift intervention will put much needed pressure on Gamagara to meet the water needs of the community.
In an attempt to remedy the dire situation, the DA is providing water to the community where possible, and has launched a petition to demand the repair of boreholes and their direct connection to the water system. Support the petition here: https://petitions.da.org.za/p/olifantshoek-water-crisis.
Residents deserve a municipality that prioritises the basic needs of the community above lucrative contracts that are exacerbating increasingly critical water shortages