The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Ratlou conducted an oversight inspection at Gareleng and Ramabesa following a report by the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality made to the North West Legislature Public Accounts Committee in which the district municipality claimed to have drilled and completed the construction of two boreholes to provide residents with water.

Following a report to the North West Legislature Public Accounts Committee, Ngaka Modiri District Municipality claims to have completed the construction of two boreholes in April to assist communities with water supply during the COVID-19 lockdown period.

On 12 August 2020, the DA visited the site to find that there were no boreholes. Following our oversight, the district municipality went and dug two boreholes but to date, the two boreholes have no water. Please see photos of the site here, here, hereand here. 

The district municipality claims to have surveyed the place before drilling the area for water, but the lack of water supply is proof that they did not do their due diligence in ensuring quality work. There must be clarity on how many metres were drilled in each borehole and how much was paid for each meter to be installed.

The DA will through its Legislature Spokesperson, Freddy Sonakile, refer the issue to the Provincial Public Accounts Committee demanding to know how R5 million was spent on two boreholes that are not functional.

We will also write to the Acting MEC for Cooperative Governance, Boitumelo Moiloa, requesting clarity on the tender specifications and all expenses incurred through this project.

It is unacceptable that R5 million has been wasted on a project that has not benefitted the community of Gareleng and Ramabesa. There must be an investigation into the process that led to the construction of the boreholes and everyone involved in the project must account for this shoddy work.

The money used to build these two boreholes could have been used to service the existing boreholes which pump water to Gareleng and Ramabesa from 7h00 until 19h00. The borehole does not store water as the 2 of 10 000 litre tanks needs to be connected to the borehole.

Issued by The DA