Hammanskraal water:

City of Tshwane turns its back on residents

Today, I visited the Tshwane Region 2 Municipal Offices in Hammanskraal to present the results of independent tests on water in the area. The DA procured the services of an independent water testing laboratory after the City of Tshwane repeatedly claimed that there was nothing wrong with the water in Hammanskraal.

Despite the tests revealing that water in the area is contaminated and not fit for human consumption, municipal officials at the regional office refused to accept the results of these tests during my visit today.

It is clear the City of Tshwane has turned its back on the people of Hammanskraal.

The tests revealed that the water in Ward 49 in Hammanskraal contains high levels of bacteria including:

• Extremely high levels of Cloriform bacteria – which results mainly from rotting plant materials – the acceptable level is less than 10 per 100ml, while the levels currently found in Ward 49’s water is 193;
• High levels of Faecal Cloriform bacteria – which means traces of human or animal faeces are present – the acceptable level is 0 per 100ml, the level in Ward 49’s water is  187;
• High level of E.coli bacteria in the water – which means there is sewage contamination – the acceptable level is 0 per 100ml, the level in Ward 49’s water is 168.

As a result of these findings the independent water laboratory came to the following conclusion:

“The water sample from Ward 49 exceeds the SANS 241 drinking water quality guideline in terms of the total coliform, faecal coliform and E.coli counts. The water is contaminated with sewage and needs to be treated for human and animal use”

In October, I lead a picket outside the regional municipal office and submitted a memorandum to Acting Regional Executive Director (RED) Godfrey Mnguni, which called on the City to provide residents with their plan to deliver clean water to Hammanskraal.

In response, Executive Mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa stated that the water in Hammanskraal had been tested and met the national standards for water quality.

Our independent tests reveal that this is clearly not the case.

The City of Tshwane has also failed to respond to our memorandum to date.

Mr Mnguni was unavailable today and the municipal official sent to meet me claimed that he knew nothing about the DA’s memorandum and also refused to accept the results of our independent water tests.

The City of Tshwane’s inaction to date shows that they do not care about the people of Hammanskraal. They are not even prepared to supply residents their most basic right – clean drinking water.

The results of our independent tests is irrefutable evidence that the ANC municipality has been lying to Hammanskraal residents about the state of their drinking water.

I call on Executive Mayor Ramokgopa to come clean on this matter and ensure that the municipality immediately intervenes so that residents have access to safe drinking water.

When we take over in Tshwane, the DA will prioritise service delivery to communities. Where we govern, all residents have access to clean drinking water and proper sanitation, with an access rate to clean piped water standing at 99.1%.

This is because we put the needs of citizens first.

The DA wants to bring change to Tshwane – change that stops corruption and starts service delivery.

We will not rest until the Tshwane municipality fulfils its responsibilities and Hammanskraal residents have access to clean water.