The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo laid criminal charges against the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) last week because of its continued failure to supply Vhembe residents with water.
"The lack of water supply to this town [Louis Trichardt], the Mowcop Reservoir, and the Tshikota Reservoir has left people without water for not just days, but months," said Lindy Wilson, Member of Parliament and the DA's provincial spokesperson for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (CoGHSTA ), shortly after laying the charges against VDM officials at the Makhado SAPS. Wilson was accompanied by Jacques Smalle, the DA's provincial chairman.
According to Wilson, the lack of water has forced many residents to spend up to R2,000 a month or more to buy water. She described VDM's continued failure to supply water as criminal, in breach of the Constitution and the Water Act. That is why, she said, the DA decided to lay criminal charges. "The DA, on behalf of Makhado, says enough is enough!" said Wilson.
Wilson pointed out that Section 27 of the Constitution mandates access to water, and the Water Services Act, 108 of 1997, stipulates that a consumer may not be without water for more than seven full days per year.
"VDM does not care about residents' rights and has a flagrant disregard for our Constitution and the implementing legislation that ensures water provision. Despite the South African Human Rights Commission's recommendations in 2023 to VDM, following an investigation in 2021, the water crisis has worsened," Wilson said.
"The municipality respects the rule of law and the democratic process, hence it will respond to any matters that need its attention," said VDM spokesperson Matodzi Ralushai when asked to comment on the criminal charges laid against its officials last week.
The DA, in a subsequent press release, specifically mentioned problems at the Mowcop Reservoir, which have left residents of New Town (Louis Trichardt) without water for eight weeks now. Ralushai, in a previous response, indicated that the reservoir had to be drained to fix a faulty valve. This, however, was a couple of weeks ago, and the problem persists, with no water supply restored.
Asked what was causing the delay in fixing the problem, Ralushai stated that the VDM attended to the issue as soon as it arose. "However, there is direct sabotage by some community members tampering with our water-control valves," said Ralushai. This is the second time Ralushai has accused the public of causing the water shortage. The previous time he made this claim was when he was asked whether there was any truth to rumours that Vhembe officials were deliberately sabotaging the water supply system to boost private water sales and whether the VDM was investigating these claims. He turned the accusation around, stating that it was the public who were sabotaging the system. He made no mention of any investigation to prove the contrary.
The DA also raised the issue of communication between residents and Vhembe when problems occur in the system, causing water shutdowns. In response, Ralushai said that the municipality does "from time to time" issue communications about water interruptions.
It remains to be seen whether anything will come of the DA's criminal charges against Vhembe officials. Sadly, similar attempts in the past have yielded no results or improved service delivery by the VDM. However, there remains a glimmer of hope for residents. Three weeks ago, Ralushai indicated that the municipality is currently completing the Makhado West project to provide a sustainable water supply to Makhado and that the project is 99% complete.
"The municipality is busy with the testing of the Makhado West project and repairing some defects found in some of the valves on the pipeline," Ralushai said, adding that the practical completion date for the project was the end of February this year.