Community up in arms about water tankers
Truck drivers have allegedly been spotted by community members arriving at Kobwa Hall in Malalane to collect thousands of litres of water illegally, which they sell to people outside Malalane who live in trusts.
Residents are concerned about the safety of the town’s streets, as they say people and children must be extra cautious of water trucks driving recklessly through their own neighbourhood.
A local DA councillor, Mariëtte Preddy, has received a number of complaints from residents in the area relating to dangerous driving by water tankers collecting water from Fish Eagle Street. Incidents have occurred in streets at the various intersections in town and at its entrances, and on the N4.
“While the municipality has the responsibility to provide water to all, and all have the right to water, there are right ways and wrong ways to achieve this. The current process is putting the lives of our residents and their children at risk, creating noise and hazard in a residential area and making life a misery for residents living close by the water works,” said Preddy.
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She had confronted these truck drivers before. They were spotted at the community hall collecting water, and it was discovered that there are drivers who purchase water to resell in Impala Trust, while others collect water without proof of payment. According to the drivers who collected water, they take it to Impala Trust to give to the people who are in dire need of it. The drivers said the water collection facilities in the trust are not up to standard.
Preddy reached out to the executive mayor, Cllr JM Mkatshwa, and accounting officer, Dan Ngwenya, in September to provide a report with all the approved service delivery water suppliers who fetch water with proof of water plan licences in Nkomazi. She requested that proof of these records be made available so that suppliers who have service level agreements can be tracked on the number of times they can fill up each day.
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“If there is no proof of agreements, collecting water like these drivers do is illegal. There is no justification for the status quo. We are working towards stopping this perpetration of administrative injustice and reckless endangerment of our residents, and establishing properly designed facilities to provide water to residents of Nkomazi away from residential areas. Please provide your support when called upon to do so,” said Preddy.
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