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The community of Vredesvalley in Kakamas has been without purified water for five weeks and counting, after vandals sabotaged the water purification plant.

While the Democratic Alliance (DA) has provided the community with 1 700 litres of purified water as a short-term solution, this is not sustainable.

Given failed commitments by the municipal manager to restore the water, or at the very least scale up the provision of drinking water, we have therefore appealed to COGHSTA MEC, Bentley Vass, to intervene.

It was previously reported that the protective fence to the plant had been illegally removed, that the building at the water purification plant was vandalized and the cables for the water pump were stolen, interrupting water supply.

While temporary measures were put in place to ensure provision of drinkable water, they have been inadequate and the community has been left wanting.

There are only two small water tanks in the area, one at the clinic, and one at the local creche. They are insufficient to cater for the community at large. The municipality also only has one operational tanker and only refills the tanks every other day. This leaves half of the community without clean drinking water. This has pushed desperate residents to walk up to two kilometres with their wheelbarrows to collect raw water directly from the river.

Last week, the municipal manager, Mr Mac Kay, confirmed that the order for new cables was placed in time, but that they would most probably only receive them in the course of this week, whereafter infrastructure would be repaired as soon as possible. Vandalism, however, seems to have impacted on other areas as well, as there are apparently four more purification stations suffering the same fate. While demand for cables is high, suppliers are short in stock, delaying repair work.

The community is aggrieved by the lack of municipal assistance and the failure of the Mayor and the ward councillor to call for a community meeting in order to explain and discuss the situation. They deserve better.

The DA will submit a formal request to MEC Vass, from him to assist Kai !Garib municipality speed up the repairs and also to aide with additional water tanks and tankers.

The DA has also requested both the Speaker and the Municipal Manager to provide the community with water purification tablets in the meantime, in order to ensure that there is no outbreak of disease. We will further interact with the South African Police Service (SAPS), given the plague of vandalism on state infrastructure and the absence of any arrests in the matter. We will specifically ask for ramped up inspections on scrapyards that may be buying stolen infrastructure, as well as an awareness campaign on the financial and service delivery impact of vandalism, along with the consequences of partaking in such criminality.

The DA will continue to serve the Vredesvalley community as best we can, until Kai !Garib local municipality restores the vandalised water purification works in Vredesvalley. All people have a right to clean drinking water.

Issued by Priscilla Isaacs, MPL - Constituency Head of Benede Oranje