Drought: Government’s negligence of dams is exacerbating suffering
20 January 2015
Earlier this week, the DA discovered that the sluice gates of Hluhluwe Dam in KwaZulu-Natal have been left wide open for over 6 days, leaking out millions of litres per day whilst the dam is at a meagre 20% of its capacity. This gross negligence by the ANC managed municipality is the exact cause that is worsening the vast suffering being experienced nationwide, due to water shortages.
The DA, has been in contact with the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Nomvula Mokonyane’s office, requesting that she immediately order uMhlathuze Water – the incumbent water board for the region- to hastily close the sluice gates. It is shocking that whilst millions of South Africans, are languishing without clean water, Minister Mokonyane’s department is allowing drinkable water to go to waste.
Minister Mokonyane should be on top of this egregious waste of water but she is too busy assisting in electioneering for the ANC by dilly-dallying with the release of the Blue and Green drop reports.
Even worse, the DA encountered indifference and cavalier attitudes when reporting the dam leakage to the municipality, no one seemed to care that the potable water was being wasted. It has been over 2 days since filing our request and the gates were only closed 10 hours ago, it is obvious that the ANC-government does not care about the lives of the poor - who will be forced to survive without food during this drought.