I write this in the hope that one of our politicians or municipal officials will make some effort to restore our water supply in Beefwood Road, Pennington and numerous other areas under Ugu. One can live without electricity, but not without water.
We have not had municipal water since November 2022, my meter reading has not changed since then. Since 2016 we have been out of water from 07:00 to 14:00 every day and often that time was extended to later. The problem has been reported countless times using the original reference number with promises made, but nothing is done. As an individual, one is not able to communicate with municipal managers but they will communicate with political leaders within the municipal area. There is a definite lethargy on the part of municipal officials and political community leaders to keep members of the community informed.
According to information recorded from a meeting that was held in 2016 with municipal officials and a ward 10 councillor, the problem with the water supply in Beefwood Road and a number of other roads in Pennington is that the infrastructure is so old that it can no longer sustain the pressure required for a normal regulated water supply. At best it was run on a reduced pressure setting and is now totally switched off.
What can the meaning of political choice be when none of the political parties are making any concerted effort to influence public awareness of the root cause of the problem? Opposition parties have never had a more opportune time to sell themselves to their intended voters. The party that can supply the basic essential for life should stand a good chance attracting voters.
Unfortunately, our municipal services (water and sanitation) are inextricably linked to political parties. Services are what we as voters vote for. It is blatantly obvious that our politicians do not care about their constituents who voted for them. It is also blatantly clear that the present government has to be removed for there to be any chance of recovering our water and sanitation infrastructure. It can not be intelligent to re-elect the present government and expect them to fix the very thing that they destroyed.
For a long time, the warning bells have been ringing that our municipalities are heading towards collapse. That warning has now happened, they have collapsed. The question is, should we continue to pay rates to our municipal servants when we are not getting a service. Since there is no accountability there is no incentive to deliver the services for which they are employed to deliver. The only positive influence we as ratepayers can possibly have is either to vote for a new government or stop paying our rates. By continuing to pay our rates we are sustaining the collapse of service delivery and theft of our hard-earned money.
MIKE SCHWIKKARD
Pennington
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