Water crisis looms in Emfuleni

3 March 2021

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is deeply concerned that the residents of Emfuleni Local Municipality are currently experiencing water shortages.

The Emfuleni Local Municipality has issued a public announcement stating that they are aware of the water shortages currently affecting large parts of Emfuleni due to additional water supply reductions imposed on the municipality by Rand Water as a credit control measure since 25 February 2021.

The areas most affected by the water supply reductions are Vereeniging, Evaton, Sebokeng, Vanderbijlpark, Bophelong, Roshnee and Rus-Ter-Vaal.

It is worrying that water shortages in Emfuleni have been an ongoing issue without a lasting solution between Rand Water and the municipality.

The residents are now suffering as they have to walk long distances to fetch water for household purposes and are unable to use the ablution facilities.

The country is experiencing the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and a third wave is anticipated and one of the ways in which the spread of this virus is curbed is by regularly washing of hands; how can Emfuleni residents adhere to the health protocol of regularly washing hands when they are experiencing water shortages?

Despite the fact that Emfuleni has been placed under administration, the water challenges have still not been resolved.

This clearly indicates that the administrators are failing to rescue Emfuleni from a financial crisis and to deliver services to the residents.

The DA is calling on the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Lebogang Maile to intervene and facilitate an agreement between Emfuleni administrators and Rand Water to ensure that water pressure is restored so that residents can have access to a normal flow of water as is their basic human right.

Issued by Kingsol Chabalala,DA Emfuleni North Constituency Head, 3 March 2021