The Democratic Alliance (DA) is escalating a petition for the restoration of water in Spokiesdorp, Wrenchville, to the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature’s standing committee on petitions, after Ga Segonyana municipality ignored the plight of 54 households, left without water for six years.
When they first occupied their homes in Spokiesdorp in December 2018, the affected households had access to running water and could flush their toilets. What should have been an easily rectifiable water issue, however, dried up the water in their taps and has remained unresolved. They have had to adapt to carrying buckets of water from Jo-Jo tanks placed in their streets, to complete household chores and facilitate basic sanitation. This is a significant inconvenience and has drastically affected their quality of life.
The violation of residents’ basic right to access to water stems from a water pressure issue caused by the incompatibility of two different sized pipes utilised at the housing development. The piping plan for the development cannot be traced and the location of the underground stop cock, which may also be closed, remains unknown.
Last year, the DA launched a petition, demanding that the water crisis receive urgent attention. Residents from all 54 affected homes signed the petition and it was submitted in December 2024, through the municipal registry, for the attention of the Municipal Manager and the Technical Department. To date, Ga-Segonyana municipality has still not responded.
Neither Ga Segonyana, which doesn’t have a problem billing households residing in Spokiesdorp, nor COGHSTA, who is responsible for the actual housing project development, are willing to take responsibility for the matter. This is despite a subsequent promise made by the Mayor last year, that the water issue would be attended to in January 2025. While they point fingers, it is the 54 households who suffer.
The DA will continue fighting to get water restored to the 54 affected houses. We hope that the matter will be speedily addressed by the legislature’s petitions committee. Pressure from the provincial legislature must facilitate cooperation and accountability of local and provincial government, and ensure a speedy solution to a prolonged water problem.