‘Enough is enough!’ – DA demands action on Joburg’s water crisis

The DA on Wednesday protested outside the City of Johannesburg’s (CoJ) Council Chambers to highlight the city’s inability to manage the ongoing water crisis.

The protest was led by DA Johannesburg caucus leader Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku, DA Gauteng shadow MEC of infrastructure Nico de Jager, DA Johannesburg shadow MMC of infrastructure Nicole van Dyk, and DA Johannesburg Regional Chairperson Wendy Alexander.

During the protest, the party said that it will fight for the rights of Johannesburg’s residents.

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‘Enough is enough’ says DA

“Enough is enough. The mayor must dissolve the board of Johannesburg Water and start to bring about the change people so desperately need.

“The situation in Johannesburg is untenable, and without immediate intervention and changes, we are staring down the barrel of a full-blown humanitarian crisis,” Kayser-Echeozonjoku said.

Watch: DA protests outside Johannesburg’s council chambers

The party claims that the people of Johannesburg have lost trust in the coalition governing the city and Johannesburg Water, because they are failing to address the crisis.

“The alternative from the DA is now unavoidable: dissolve the board of Johannesburg Water, reconstitute it with those who have the necessary technical expertise to fix the mess created by cadres – and stop our taps from running dry.”

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Memorandums handed over

Two memorandums of demands were handed over to the CoJ Executive and the Office of the Speaker.

The party submitted the first memorandum to Mayor Dada Morero, which called for the dissolution of the board of Johannesburg Water.

The second was handed to the Office of the Speaker of the Johannesburg Council, Councillor Nobuhle Mthembu, urging her to ensure that there is oversight over both a turnaround strategy and disaster management plan.

The DA also accused the ANC/ActionSA/EFF/PA coalition of driving the City of Johannesburg into the ground.

“Their practices of cadre deployment and misgovernance are now clearly failing.”

“Hundreds of thousands of people face water outages daily in Johannesburg,” it concluded.

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