The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Polokwane urgently requests that Executive Mayor John Mpe attend to the ongoing water crisis.
This comes as the ongoing water shortages in Polokwane have moved beyond inconvenience; it is bordering on a humanitarian crisis as certain areas in Polokwane have been without water for more than 14 days now.
It further seems that no entity is prepared to take accountability as is indicated by the very public spat between Polokwane Municipality and Lepelle Northern Water Board.
This behaviour is an insult to the people of Polokwane.
Lepelle Northern Water repeatedly hides behind excuses of pump failures, power interruptions, and “technical challenges”. These explanations have become routine, predictable, and unacceptable.
A bulk water supplier that cannot guarantee stable supply, maintain its infrastructure, or communicate in a transparent manner has failed in its mandate.
At the same time, Polokwane Municipality cannot pretend to be the helpless victim.
Years of infrastructure neglect, water losses tallying up to 38%, collapsing reservoirs, poor planning, and weak management have left the city vulnerable. The Municipality’s inability to manage distribution, respond swiftly to outages, or implement meaningful contingency measures directly contribute to this crisis.
The DA believes that the both entities managed by the ANC are responsible for the daily suffering and inconvenience of Polokwane residents.
The DA now demands that Executive Mayor Mpe facilitates without delay:
• Immediate, transparent joint reporting by both Lepelle Northern Water and the Municipality
• A public, time-bound action plan with clear responsibilities
• Emergency intervention from provincial and national government
• Consequences for officials who continue to fail residents without repercussion
Our communities do not care about the ANC’s intergovernmental disputes, technical jargon, or political deflection. They care about the right to water and will show their dismay at the voting stations in the upcoming Local Government Elections.