Eastern Cape water infrastructure described as humanitarian crisis by DA

The Eastern Cape’s ageing water infrastructure is a humanitarian crisis, according to the DA in the province. 

The party embarked on a six-week tour, visiting 28 communities across the province where they engaged with residents who have been battling without water for months.

In Nelson Mandela Bay alone, several communities have endured days without water due to infrastructural issues. This issue was worsened by the unavailability of water tankers.

On Thursday, DA MPL Vicky Knoetze said the ongoing water problems across the province had proven to be a humanitarian crisis that has left thousands of desperate residents displaced due to the lack of potable water available to them.

“Those who choose to stay can wait days, even weeks, for municipalities to cart water to their area by tankers or must rely on local water sources, which are often contaminated, as the sewage infrastructure has also collapsed,” Knoetze said. 

“Cadre-deployed officials have chosen rather to let our people suffer than accept assistance and take responsibility for the crisis.”

The communities in the province that are battling with water-related issues include Gqeberha, Cradock, Middleburg, Joubertina and Pearston, among others.

In the Bay, the majority of the western suburbs, Bethelsdorp, Kwalanga in Kariega, Despatch and some townships in Gqeberha were affected by water outages this week.

Knoetze said it was alarming that municipalities lacked the resources to address the challenges of bulk infrastructure failure regarding water provision.

“The fact that assistance from the private sector, at no cost, is being turned down by municipalities not only illustrates a lack of political will, but also shows that there is a total disregard for the people affected by this disaster.”

She said she would write to cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Zolile Williams to intervene and to encourage the affected municipalities to accept the assistance from the private sector in the form of public-private partnerships.

Meanwhile, during his visit to the Bay over the weekend, President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was campaigning for the ANC ahead of the May 29 elections, promised to tackle the country’s water problems.

“We are going to be spending hundreds of billions of rand on infrastructure, [on] water, electricity, roads and all that, and in time also improve the skills of people who should ensure all that is well handled,” he said.

“Now we’ve got a deep understanding of where we are and we’ve got the resolve to correct what is taking place now.

“That is the message I take to our people, that we know what’s happening, we are addressing it and we are also laying out enough resources to address it.”

HeraldLIVE