Clarity demanded on water shutdown outcomes
Date: 06 October 2022
As Kimberley residents brace for the start of a five-day water shutdown tonight, Sol Plaatje municipality has yet to provide councillors with a report on the work carried out during the last scheduled water shutdown in May 2022, despite numerous requests by the DA.
We are also getting no feedback on the costs involved. This is despite the use of contractors in May and a specialist consultant appointed to assist in an advisory capacity with the weekend’s shutdown.
The lack of transparency in respect of the city’s water infrastructure maintenance plan is of growing concern, given that no councillors have been made privy to it.
Given the endless water interruptions, nightly water shutdowns and additional 24-hour emergency water shutdowns on the 10th and 27th of September, Sol Plaatje cannot expect us, or the residents of Kimberley, to simply accept on face value that progress is being made in respect of water infrastructure repairs.
A number of leaks reported by the DA since 2019 have gone unattended. Repair work scheduled for this weekend also looks like a copy and paste of the work that should have been concluded in May. This includes repair work on the major leaks at Gogga Pump Station, behind 3SAI Army Base and behind the Newton Reservoir, at Northern Cape High School.
The effectiveness of Sol Plaatje’s water shutdowns is questioned, and whether they are in fact worth the suffering that residents are increasingly being subjected to.
Sol Plaatje’s water issues first arose in 2008 when a moratorium was placed on development to due to bulk infrastructure limitations. A request for Sol Plaatje to commence with a maintenance plan, was then issued to Sol Plaatje by DA councillor, Ockert Fourie, in 2009. In 2016, Sol Plaatje experienced its first big water shutdown and in 2019 the city had its first scheduled shutdown for the repair of specific leakages. Projections now are that they will continue for another ten to fifteen years, before aged water infrastructure is eventually systematically replaced.
Kimberley cannot indefinitely continue on this unending path. The failure by Sol Plaatje to supply councillors with the requested report and maintenance plan, leaves us with no choice but to submit a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application to access the information. This is necessary for us to hold Sol Plaatje accountable for what it has spent and has failed to achieve in respect of water infrastructure repairs and maintenance.
The DA will be actively monitoring the water shutdown, through oversight inspections and having requested that councillors be invited to the committee meetings that will sit during the weekend, and we will provide regular updates to the public.
Statement issued by Heinrich Pieterse, Cllr - Sol Plaatje Municipality, 6 October 2022
