SAHRC Water Inquiry: Findings confirm KZN ANC-run governments dismal performance
19 September 2023
The DA in KwaZulu-Natal welcomes the findings of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) inquiry into the provision of water services in the province.
The report, which comes after public hearings across the province, is the result of 600 water-related complaints received by the SAHRC.
It also comes after the DA, in November 2022, delivered a Memorandum of Demands to the SAHRC as a result of the severe water and sanitation crisis in the province.
The findings are further proof of the dismal performance by KZN’s ANC-run government. Despite crippling issues affecting water provision to millions of people, it has done little to come to their aid.
The outcome is also in line with what the DA has been highlighting – not just in areas such as eThekwini, Ugu and Ladysmith municipalities - but across our entire province.
The report is particularly damning in its findings on eThekwini. This includes a severe lack of accountability within government and shocking apathy when it comes to the interests of residents.
EThekwini is the commercial hub of our province. If it collapses, KZN collapses.
The DA has continually called for the metro to be placed under administration. Yet the ANC continues to play politics and protect their own cadres despite endemic under-performance.
The DA will, in the coming days, unpack the findings of the 155-page report, in a bid to assess and find solutions to the challenges being faced by KZN’s people when it comes to the provision of water.
We will also write to KZN Speaker, Nontembeko Boyce, to request that she table the report and call for an urgent debate in the provincial legislature.
This ANC-run government can no longer trample on the human rights of KZN’s people. In 2024, citizens will have the opportunity to save our province and vote for a government that is committed to putting them first.
Issued by Francois Rodgers, Leader of the DA in the KZN Legislature, 19 September 2023
