POLOKWANE – THE EFF in Limpopo has accused the Polokwane Municipality of building a steel water supply tank worth R4m in Mankweng, that has now become a white elephant.
In a media statement released by the EFF, the provincial convener, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said the tank was built last year to supply water between ward 7 and ward 27 and to supply water to more than 3 000 people in addressing chronic water shortages in the two communities.
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“Since the tank was erected, it has not been useful to the intended beneficiaries or communities. Their right for access to water is being violated with their hopes diminishing every day as the tank remains a white elephant. The government simply develops infrastructure and walks away without making it accessible to communities.”
Ndlozi claims that it is the culture of the government to build infrastructure and abandon it without ensuring that it benefits the communities.
“This leads to the infrastructure in communities being vandalised as it is not serving the people. Thugs take advantage of white elephant infrastructure by stealing whatever they come across and the EFF will not be surprised if the steel water tank gets stolen or vandalised. This will amount to fruitless and wasteful expenditure which the ANC government is famous for,” he said.
The EFF has called upon the municipality to ensure that the tank provides water to the communities of Mantshana and Magoa within the next two weeks, failing upon which the EFF will approach the Human Rights Commission and further mobilise the community to protest. Contacted for comment, municipal spokesperson Thipa Selala said the 550kl elevated storage tank was intended to provide relief to the community and was built to augment the storage of water due to the growth of the villages. He says the construction was completed and an electricity connection is still outstanding.
“We have applied to Eskom, and the application was rejected due to capacity and upgrading of their Mankweng substation. We applied again in February and we are still awaiting an official response from Eskom,” he said.
