WATCH | Arson, arrests and red ants — Parys and its water challenges

The mayor of Ngwathe municipality in Parys in the Free State is perplexed by the torching of her mother’s house in Schonkenville during service delivery protests on Monday. 

Victoria De Beer-Mthombeni says her brother has gone mute because of the trauma. 

Standing outside the gutted house she couldn't hold back her tears looking at the remnants of the home she grew up in.

“We are very worried about my brother, who is not speaking. I think it’s due to the trauma,” she said.

De Beer-Mthombeni said she'll let the law take its course as her family picks up the pieces.

“My mother is a domestic worker who built this home. In the 35 years of my life this has been home and now I've got nothing left of my father. I hope justice prevails because my mother has nothing to do with politics.”

Kroonstad and Parys residents took their grievances to the streets after “years of dry taps”, according to Ngwathe Independent Community Association spokesperson Moalusi Lisito.

He said the community had every right to be frustrated.

“All we want is water. We marched in 2014 and a [water] plant was built but it has not serviced us. We’ve had meetings with the municipality, but they’ve failed us, we haven’t had water for 20 years.”   

Lisito condemned violence during the protests, but said the involvement of police aggravated matters. “Red ants” and a large police contingent were posted outside the municipal head offices to contain protests. 

“This municipality brings in the police when we’re exercising our right to demonstrate our anger. Why is it that whenever we demand basic services police are used and we get arrested instead of our demands being met? That’s why it gets out of hand.” 

No arrests have been made for the torching of De Beer-Mthombeni’s mother's home, but four people arrested during Monday's violence appeared briefly in the Parys magistrate's court on Wednesday.

De Beer-Mthombeni said she sympathised with residents but didn’t think the community understood the challenges her new administration faces.

An assessment of the water plant by the department of water affairs showed while load-shedding affected capability to produce enough clean water to service the municipality, pre-existing challenges hampered the delivery of water to communities. 

TimesLIVE visited the defunct Parys water purification plant. Filters are not working at two of the three water plants, while the third — meant to produce 10-million litres a day — has been decommissioned.

De Beer-Mthombeni blamed her predecessors, citing maladministration. According to her, a contractor employed in 2019 to replace filters and nozzles did not carry out the job despite being paid. 

“Money has been spent and we have nothing to show for it. What was spent here was wasted. It’s important that we recoup the money for the taxpayers' benefit.”

The municipality, department of water affairs, Cogta and the treasury MEC met on Wednesday to plot a way forward.

“The department of water affairs and treasury have committed to finalising the process of approving and availing emergency procurement and funds to deal with the matter so that we can fix the clarifiers and filters [at the water plant],” De Beer-Mthombeni said. 

The municipality has also applied to Eskom to exempt the water plants from load-shedding. 

Water has started running slowly “here and there”, according to the mayor. “We’d like the community to be patient because we are finally making strides.”

TimesLIVE

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