Time to Arrest Officials for Lack of Water Provision in Limpopo   

5 August 2020

Residents from villages of the Sekhukhune District Municipality headed to court this week over continued lack of provision of water by the municipality. The village’s water supply was cut off and not been restored since 2014.

Over time they have successfully approached the courts on a number of occasions to rectify the situation. Despite their legal successes however the municipality has consistently ignored the directives from the court. This situation has put members of the community at risk as they have been attacked by crocodiles   collecting water from the nearby rivers. The health risks have only multiplied with the onset of the corona virus.

The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), who is representing the villages, are asking the courts for an increased legal sanction this time around. This includes the arrest and punitive costs against the acting municipal manager. Ariella Scher, litigation attorney in the Home, Land & Rural Democracy programme at (CALS), spoke on 101.9 Chai FM about the case and its importance from a strategic legal perspective. The program also touches on the some of the challenges facing legal students wanting to study overseas in the current moment.

You can listen to the full interview here. 

You can see the full statement by CALS here.

For more the on the student overseas challenges click here.

To check out other interviews you can go here.

Benji Shulman is a broadcaster on 101.9 ChaiFM to hear more episodes on public participation and other issues you can check them out here.