On Tuesday 12 July, the DA tabled an urgent motion to declare the Ngwathe Municipality a disaster area, due to the continuing deterioration of water supply in the municipality.

During a heated debate, council was in agreement that everyone has the right to access sufficient water, as enshrined by the Constitution, but that this has been seriously undermined in the Ngwathe municipal area.

It is an undeniable fact that in most of the five towns within the boundaries of Ngwathe, this basic right of communities is being eroded. The situation is deteriorating exponentially. Infrastructure is failing. Water leaks are consistent. The water supply cannot meet the demand. And to make matters worse, during loadshedding water cannot be pumped through the network, DA Ngwathe Councillor Carina Serfontein, said in a statement today.

According to the statement  Parys’ main supply valves are even being closed by residents in order to try to get water to their areas.

“Frequent water shedding has become the norm in Koppies where the water supply is being cut early evening, only to be re-opened early the following morning. In Vredefort, Koppies, Parys and Edenville during most days, water will not be available.”

As the water disruptions increase and the water supply periods decrease, it has become evident that the Ngwathe Municipality has lost its ability to provide clean potable water to its communities on a sustained basis, was argued, saying that this situation deteriorates every year.

According to the statement declaring a state of disaster would effect additional resources from National and Provincial Government to restore sustainable and quality water provision. “It would also allow the municipality to take additional financial steps to intervene, which would otherwise be deemed irregular.”

The DA tabled the motion in terms of the Disaster Management Act but it was not voted in favour of by Council, although all councillers admitted that it is a major crisis. The proposal is that the crisis should be escalated to the Fezile Dabi District Municipality