Parys residents angry as promises to provide water are broken

Three weeks after promises were made that they would soon have water, residents in Parys told TimesLIVE they are still waiting. 

Last month, angry residents went on the rampage and torched the house of the mayor's mother and parts of the municipal building while protesting over water outages they say have been ongoing for years. 

Resident Blessing Mawela told TimesLIVE they have not had water in weeks despite promises made by the mayor at the time.

“We are still without water even though the mayor promised that the issue is being attended to. It seems like the promises were just to end the protest and not about resolving the issue,” Mawela said.  

Mayor Victoria de Beer told residents the department of sanitation had committed to help the municipality to ensure residents were able to get water. 

“The department of water affairs and the 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 said at the time.  

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

TimesLIVE has previously 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 — had been decommissioned.

De Beer 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.”

Meanwhile, schools in and around Parys suspended classes on Wednesday, amid reports there would be another protest over water.

On Tuesday night, a protest erupted in Tumahole, a township in Parys. Residents had barricaded roads with burning tyres and vowed to continue on Wednesday. 

There was also a voice note doing the rounds, alerting parents to not send their children to school on Wednesday. 

“Dear teachers and parents, please note there will be a protest tomorrow. They have already closed the streets and tomorrow it's gonna be worse,” the voice note said. 

Parent and resident Tuelo Mufamadi said she didn't send her children to school because of the notice. She said though the protest seems to have been suspended due to the rain, there was no guarantee it would not proceed in the coming days. 

“We are really angry and tired of the lies. As soon as the rain clears, I'm sure residents will take to the streets to air their frustrations,” she said. 

TimesLIVE

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