DA petitions AbaQulusi Municipality on a lack of service

Lolo Madonsela

DA councillor, Alta de Kock served AbaQulusi Local Municipality with a petition, regarding water and electricity supply and service delivery matters.
She handed the petition over to Administrator, Sibusiso Mkhize last Thursday just before the Council meeting. Cllr de Kock said the community was ‘outraged’ by the failure of AbaQulusi Municipality to supply water to the town, due to alleged bad maintenance of the electricity supply to the Klipfontein Pump Station. “During the last 30 days, we experienced 21 days with water supply problems to town and surrounding areas.

Also read: Community up in arms over water crisis

“This was largely due to a power failure to Klipfontein Pump Station, which meant they could not pump water to the reservoir.
“All of this because substations are not maintained, as well as the poor maintenance of power lines,” she stated.
According to Cllr de Kock, there were cases where no water was supplied for three to eight days, without an alternative water supply, and claimed managers refused to send the CoGTA (Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs) truck to deliver water to critical points such as the landfill, where there is no water supply at all.
“Water is a basic service that is one of the main services to the community. Furthermore, AbaQulusi does have only one qualified plumber; the rest are only general workers,” added Cllr de Kock.
She further stated it was ‘unacceptable that qualified people deliver such bad services, but get paid every month’.
Cllr de Kock referred to electricity boxes which were not closed and locked properly, which allowed water to get in and caused stations to trip, and faulty switches which had not been replaced. “Even the gate to the substation does not have a lock, which is a huge risk and danger to the community and also makes it an easy target for sabotaging.
“The electricians have to work overtime to replace electricity boxes which were never closed and because of the rainy season, get damaged repeatedly.
“When a rainstorm occurs, those uncovered meters have to be replaced time and again because of water damage,” explained Cllr de Kock. The petition further stated the community was losing and spending a lot of money due to streetlights which were not attended to, because of the broken bucket truck standing at a service provider’s premises since August last year because of alleged non-payment.
“We experience constant power failures, especially during rainy seasons, also due to poor maintenance of power lines. Maintenance on the Zaailaagte line was promised a long time ago and is still not attended to.
“One of the farmers pays approximately R25 000 for fuel for his generator and another lost chickens of over R100 000 over a weekend, because the municipality has not fulfilled its duty by maintaining power lines and substations properly.”
Other matters highlighted were the spending by the municipality on ‘non-core functions’ such as the annual Reed Dance and the prayer meeting, with more than R400 000 allocated.
Cllr de Kock commented the Auditor-General had warned AbaQulusi not to spend money on non-core functions, and was warned by NERSA (National Energy Regulator of South Africa) to maintain the Zaailaagte lines.
She claimed R5-million was allocated by INAP for the project, but the municipality used the money on a non-Eskom licensed area. According to Cllr de Kock, the community was considering making its water and electricity payments into a separate account, until AbaQulusi began proper maintenance to prevent shortages, and not just control damage in a crisis, as this resulted in long periods without water or power.
“DA Councillor, Magda Viktor and I, on behalf of the AbaQulusi residents, are asking for a management plan. Various sectors should be consulted, such as electricians, the store foreman, managers and directors. It is imperative this short-term maintenance plan, possibly three-year plan, is shared with the residents so they understand the process you are planning to implement. We demand that management must be held accountable and be more vigilant, by identifying people in positions who are not capable of doing their jobs, which has a snowball effect on poor service delivery to people of Vryheid”, she added.
Cllr de Kock gave the municipality ten days within which to respond.

Make sure you follow us on our social media platforms for regular updates