Note to Editors: Please find the attached soundbite in English and Afrikaans by Cllr Erna Rossouw, the DA Councillor in Madibeng Local Municipality.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to the Madibeng Administrator, Paul Maseko, and Acting Municipal Manager, Noko Seanego, requesting both of them to present a clear plan of action on how and by when they will improve service delivery in Hartbeespoort.
The community of Hartbeespoort has been left without water supply since Sunday afternoon due to several pipe bursts after years of neglect and lack of maintenance of the water infrastructure.
The water disruption was caused after Rand Water repaired the pipeline on their side and when the bulk water supply was restored the pressure valve was set too high leading to major pipe bursts in different areas of Hartbeespoort.
The community of Sunway Village and surrounding areas had threatened to close off streets in protest against the municipality for failing to fix the water issues.
Following the water disruption, a private secure estate in Hartbeespoort availed their TLB machinery to assist the Madibeng team to start repairing the bursts pipes.
The situation would have easily remained unresolved throughout the week, this is because Madibeng Local Municipality always fails to attend to water issues and to provide basic services to the people of Hartbeespoort.
The municipal contract for the lease of TLB expired at the end of January 2021 and Madibeng failed to renew it. Bidding for the tender already started but we were informed that all approvals must go through the Chief Financial Officer, however, no approval has been granted yet. The tender process appears to be shrouded in secrecy. The DA has demanded a full disclosure to Council.
Madibeng failed to utilise its Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) to address the backlog in the provision of services such as water and sanitation. Even after being placed under administration, there has been no significant improvement.
For the past five years, there has been a revolving door of Acting Municipal Managers and Administrators deployed by the Provincial Government which has further destabilised the municipality’s finances and administration.
The people of Hartbeespoort cannot continue to pay for municipal services whilst the municipality fails to deliver. The community cannot use their hard-earned money to fix burst pipes while the municipality fails to proactively address service delivery concerns.
It is once again clear that the ANC is incapable of governing and providing services. The people of Madibeng deserve a government that will respond speedily to service delivery concerns.