For about four years, residents in the east of Mamelodi, Pretoria have been experiencing water supply problems, with one of the causes being illegal connections to a water reservoir.
President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the township during an ANC campaign at the weekend.
Speaking to the media, Ramaphosa blamed the Tshwane municipality for persistent water supply problems in the east of Mamelodi.
“One of the major problems here is water. This is the municipality’s responsibility and they are the ones who are supposed to be cleaning up the township and providing water resources. The DA says where they govern, they govern well. I have not seen any good governance here,” he said.
Ramaphosa said the national government would address water problems in the region.
“We are now going to address the water challenges from national level. We are also going to look at issues such transformers to help the people of Mamelodi because we have a situation that is unacceptable for the people of this area,” he said.
Spotlight on Tshwane water supply issues as Ramaphosa visits troubled Mamelodi
For about four years, residents in the east of Mamelodi, Pretoria have been experiencing water supply problems, with one of the causes being illegal connections to a water reservoir.
President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the township during an ANC campaign at the weekend.
Speaking to the media, Ramaphosa blamed the Tshwane municipality for persistent water supply problems in the east of Mamelodi.
“One of the major problems here is water. This is the municipality’s responsibility and they are the ones who are supposed to be cleaning up the township and providing water resources. The DA says where they govern, they govern well. I have not seen any good governance here,” he said.
Ramaphosa said the national government would address water problems in the region.
“We are now going to address the water challenges from national level. We are also going to look at issues such transformers to help the people of Mamelodi because we have a situation that is unacceptable for the people of this area,” he said.
Last month, the residents were affected by water outages after a pipe leak on the supply line which feeds two of the metro’s reservoirs and left several suburbs with water interruptions.
Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink said frustrations for Mamelodi residents were caused by illegal connections to the municipal reservoirs. Water supply problems in the area started in 2021, after one of the reservoirs, reservoir 4, was plagued by illegal connections supplying water to an informal settlement next to it. The municipality on September 2021 managed to remove the illegal connections, but the residents connect to the reservoirs from time-to-time, Cilliers said.
“The illegal water connections are the essence of the problem. I have been receiving lots of complaints with people saying, ‘what is happening with the water’. There is no water in the tap even for consumers who pay their bills. That has to stop,” he said.
Brink said the municipality was attending to the residents’ plight. He labelled Ramaphosa’s remarks as political.
“His comments are political, and you understand the president is under a lot of pressure. Under his governance, South Africa has had more load-shedding than ever before, extended lockdown destroyed jobs which killed the economy and made it very difficult for consumers to pay their bills,” he said.
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