Madibeng: Three years without water‚ three years without dignity

The Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday it was “a crime against humanity” that the communities of Letlhabile‚ Jericho‚ Sunway Village and Mothotlung had been left without water for the past three years and yet were still billed for municipal services.

Following an oversight visit to Madibeng in the North West by DA shadow minister of water and sanitation‚ Nosimo Balindlela‚ and his deputy‚ Leon Basson‚ the party said Madibeng had been plagued by maladministration - in the past year it had three executive mayors.

“The MEC for local government‚ Collin Maine has ignored all the calls made by the DA to step in and turn the situation around.

“What I have witnessed today in Madibeng is truly a crime against humanity. It saddens me that for the past 10 years Madibeng‚ a once thriving municipality‚ has denigrated into a serviceless‚ corruption-rife and desolate municipality‚” Balindlela said.

“I spoke to residents in all the communities that make up Madibeng and what I was told was heart wrenching. A mother whom I spoke to in Sunway Village told the story of how she lost her nine year old son who died drowning in an unfenced and unregulated sewage plant. Local farmers and business have been affected by the very same sewage plant‚ due to the boreholes that have been affected.

“Taps are non-functional and residents have to walk up to 20km-30km to collect water from a nearby church‚ for which they are charged R1 per 25 litres.”

He said the DA would write to the Minister of Water and Sanitation‚ Nomvula Mokonyane‚ to request that she urgently table a turn-around plan for Madibeng.

“We will also be writing to the chairpersons of the portfolio committees of cooperative governance and traditional affairs‚ and water and sanitation‚ to request that a joint committee be established to summon all roleplayers that need to account to Parliament.”

Balindlela said the party would also request the South African Human Rights Commission to investigate the human rights violations in the affected communities.