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The leak on the Albasini line that was reported to the newspaper on 29 June by Mr Dries Cilliers. (That leak has been repaired in the meantime). 

What’s going on?

 

Without water there is no life. It is therefore all the more disturbing that information about local water issues, projects and so-called challenges is hidden by officials.

For the past three weeks, the Zoutpansberger has ceaselessly endeavoured to get information from the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) regarding water service delivery in the region.

In fact, one of the newspaper’s first enquiries during a routine follow-up about a leak received a curt response from the VDM. “But if it is the main line, you now the challenges of the main line … that system is f*&#ed up,” said the VDM’s spokesperson, Mr Matodzi  Ralushai, when asked about a leak on the Albasini line that was reported to the newspaper on 29 June by Mr Dries Cilliers. (That leak has been repaired in the meantime).

After this, more follow-ups were made, but to no avail. Most recently, the newspaper tried to get information from the VDM about a feedback session that was held at the VDM council chamber on Tuesday, 12 July. During this session, VDM’s executive mayor, Cllr Tshitereke Baldwin Matibe, gave feedback on resolutions that were taken during a water summit that was held on 5 February this year.

Not only was the Zoutpansberger not invited like other media houses to this summit, but was also denied access to the documents that were under discussion. The official explanation was that such documents cannot be given to the press before they had been “summarised”. “We wanted a summarized version to give to the media that were not there [at the summit] but it has not been summarized yet,” said Ralushai the day after the summit. He was unclear as to why local media had not been invited. As far as the Zoutpansberger was able to verify, only journalists from the SABC were in attendance.

The shortened press release is still forthcoming.

This is sadly in direct conflict with a previous statement the VDM made in March this year, when the municipality had made a resolution to keep the public informed about the workings of operations by means of several newspaper and media companies.  

Telephonically, Ralushai was only able to give a very broad feedback on “the different water projects” in the VDM region. These projects are reportedly amounting to billions of rands, but budgetary constraints still seem to be the prevalent challenge that the VDM is currently facing.

It is, however, not only the VDM that turns mute when the topic of water service delivery is under discussion. In February, the Democratic Alliance (DA) filed a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), claiming that they had proof that Louis Trichardt’s water was not safe to drink. The newspaper has enquired about the status of their case on numerous occasions from the DA, and more than once from their provincial leader Mr Jacques Smalle himself as well, without any outcome.  

Local DA councillors have since then been actively involved in trying to get water to desperate residents who have had little to no water since then. Their efforts, it seems, have been placed on the back burner for the time being as the date for the local municipal elections draws closer.

Meanwhile, the Louis Trichardt branch of AfriForum -  also a key role player in the local water debate – has yet to reveal their plan of action against the VDM. A fortnight ago, local AfriForum chairman Mr Wally Schultz confirmed that he was in Pretoria to consult on the possibility of dragging the VDM back to court over their continued piddling around. Since then, Schultz is yet to make an official statement on the matter.

This week, in an SMS to the newspaper, Schultz stated that he is still not ready to divulge any information. “Advocate deliberating on direction to take and requires affidavits from community, which I’m busy gathering,” reads the message.  

In the meantime, reports of sporadic water shortages are still being received.

News - Date: 25 July 2016

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Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

Email: [email protected]

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