BETHAL – Although Govan Mbeki Municipality paid an unknown amount to Rand Water on Friday, 18 January and allegedly reached an agreement with the water supplier, many Bethal residents still did not have water last week.
Residents are fed up with the water situation and organised a march from Bethal Police Station to the municipal building on Friday, 25 January, to protest against the current water issues.
The organisers of the march, Mr Hennie and Ms Michelle Rademeyer, said between 150 and 200 people were present at the peaceful protest action.
When the protestors with placards reached the municipal building, they gathered in front of the door and demanded to see the mayor.
A resident, Ms Sanette Henning, read a memorandum which Mr Rademeyer later handed over to the MMC of Finance, for the attention of the executive mayor of Govan Mbeki Municipality, Ms Thandi Ngxonono.
In the memorandum, residents highlighted the municipality’s inability to pay Rand Water as well as Eskom, and they also mentioned other issues in the community.
The memorandum stated that the community lacks confidence in the management structures of the municipality and that poor service delivery has become the norm.
It further stated that there is no indication of when the municipality will have set the necessary actions in place to turn the poor state of administration around.
Residents demanded to be informed whether the municipality can honour the payment obligation to Rand Water on 31 January.
The protestors also asked what contingency plans are in place to ensure that Bethal does not experience water cuts again.
They also enquired if plans are in place to ensure that residents do not experience power cuts should the municipality fail to pay Eskom at the end of January.
The state of the roads, broken street lights, refuse removal and sewage problems were also included in the memorandum.
Mr Rademeyer said they will give the mayor seven days to respond to their memorandum.
If they do not receive a response by Friday, 1 February, they will organise another protest action on Friday, 15 February.
“We will go even bigger and close all the entrances to Bethal,” threatened Mr Rademeyer.
Mr Benzi Soko, the Chief of Staff of Govan Mbeki Municipality, said the municipality has been paying Rand Water weekly to deal with the debt.
They have reduced the debt from R183-million to R118- million.
“We are working around the clock to manage the water situation,” said Mr Soko.
Also read:
https://www.citizen.co.za/ridge-times/131115/eskom-rand-water-accounts-payment-due-end-january/
