The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called on Sol Plaatje municipality to stop stalling and appoint a contractor to restore water to the communities of Ritchie, Modder River, Rietvale and Motswedimosa.
On 26 April, the main pump in the Riet River washed away in the floods, leaving residents without water for a week. A month later, the community continues to be affected by water shortages as smaller pumps are unable to meet the demand, necessitating the implementation of water shedding. This leaves residents with a limited supply of water, for a few hours each day.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Sol Plaatje shows no urgency in addressing this matter.
The pump, which was only pulled from the river today, is broken and must be sent away for repairs. The appointment of a contractor to repair and upgrade the water plant, is two weeks overdue, based on a past commitment by the Municipal Manager (MM). Sol Plaatje is further failing to speedily attend to aggravating water issues, like the broken pipe that leads from the pumps to the reservoir. This prompted the community to repair the pipe at their own cost, to avoid further water disruptions.
The municipal manager has informed council that Sol Plaatje has ringfenced R83 million to upgrade the water infrastructure of the Ritchie area and that the project will be launched soon. The budget document, however, shows that funding is allocated from capital projects and is not yet available.
Sol Plaatje must stop telling council what it thinks we want to hear and start telling us the truth.
If there is funding available, there should be no more delays in appointing a contractor so that repair work can get underway. If funding is not readily available, then this must be transparently communicated to the community. The DA has conveyed this request to the MM and will continue to conduct oversight inspections at the water plant, while awaiting his response.
Water is a basic human right and must be protected in Ritchie and its surrounds.