Ngwathe Mayor fails to fulfil her water supply promises

By Thys Khiba – Residents of Tumahole township in Parys are subjected to inhumane conditions and affected by water outages.

This comes after residents told Central News that months after promises were made by Ngwathe Municipality executive mayor Victoria de Beer-Mthombeni, they are still waiting to have water running from their taps.

Ngwathe Mayor fails to fulfil her water supply promises

Earlier this year, angry residents went on rampage and torched the house of the mayor’s mother and parts of the Ngwathe municipal in a service delivery protest.

The affected mayor, De Beer-Mthombeni alleged that the burning of the house was politically motivated.

The house of Ngwathe Mayor’s Parents has been burned down amid service delivery protests.

At least 11 people were arrested and appeared in the Parys Magistrate’s Court on 18 January on a charge of public violence in connection with the protest.

On Tuesday, residents of Ward 11 indicated that they wake up every morning to get unsafe water from underground pipes.

“It is possible that this water contains harmful germs, parasites, toxic chemicals.

“But we don’t have a choice, my brother…we are subjected to these conditions,” said angry resident.

Ngwathe Mayor fails to fulfil her water supply promises

Meanwhile, some residents shared concerns in relation to the impact of lack of water supply in the schools.

“It is easier for a girl child to get infection at school due to toilets that are not flushing.”

It is alleged that the municipal has a disused water-purification plant.

Filters are not working at the two of the three water plants, while the third – meant to produce 10-million litres a day – had been decommissioned.

In February, De Beer-Mthombeni informed the residents the department of sanitation had promised 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,” said DeBeer-Mthombeni.

Mayor of Ngwathe Municipality Victoria De Beer Responds to the Current Water Crisis in Parys

In response to our media inquiry, municipal spokesperson Steven Naale said the executive mayor hasn’t failed to fulfil her promises to the residents of Parys.

“No the Executive Mayor hasn’t failed, instead funding has been sourced for Refurbishment of plant.

“The Executive Mayor and the collective remain committed to improving service delivery in the municipality,” said Naale.

Naale indicated that the water-purification plant is functioning and affected by power cuts.

“Yes, the plant is functioning, not to its optimum and the load shedding causes delays in terms of water production and distribution hence consideration for alternative energy supply.

“Yes two filters were fixed, the remain filters are awaiting advertisement process which is already ongoing,” Naale said.

He indicated that the municipality developed a business plan for putting and commissioning ‘boreholes which will be connected to the network around areas were schools and clinics are situated with the intention of boosting water supply.’

CENTRAL NEWS

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