It was 'hands down' for a DA councillor when he wanted to give input on Makhado’s (Louis Trichardt) current water crisis.

DA councillor Brian du Plooy was not pleased when he was told to put his hand down when he raised it at the question and input time at the water crisis meeting of 18 July. The open meeting at the local show hall was called by the mayor of Makhado Municipality, Cllr David Mutavhatsindi.

“My privileges as a ward councillor were taken away – I needed to give positive input that the Louis Trichardt community could have benefited from,” said Cllr Du Plooy.

Du Plooy, the ward councillor of Ward 21, sat in the audience at first but was then called by the programme director, Cllr  Mildred Sinyosi, to sit in front with the municipal committee. While seated in the front, Cllr Du Plooy was told to take down his raised hand because “you are not here to ask questions”. This was after Cllr Sinyosi indicated that it was a time to ask questions, make suggestions and give input.

In response to a question as to why Cllr Du Plooy was told to put down his hand, the Makhado Municipality replied by saying that Cllr Du Plooy was an EXCO member who should speak collectively with the EXCO. 

“… he was supposed to be seated in the front with the mayor and other councillors. Thereby he could contribute collectively with other councillors in trying to make inputs on the position of the municipality to come up with solutions on resolving the water crisis,” municipal spokesperson Louis Bobodi answered on Tuesday.

In the meantime, Cllr Du Plooy said that he had wanted to say that the current water shortage would not be solved until the refurbished Albasini pipeline was connected to the new pipeline from Nandoni to Valdezia.

Du Plooy also wanted to propose at the meeting that, in the interim, “qualified contractors with expertise be appointed to attend to the water breakdowns immediately.” Du Plooy said that at this stage it takes the Vhembe District Municipality 48 to 72 hours before a contractor is appointed. “VDM does not have its own capable officials with the necessary knowledge and expertise to solve the problems themselves,” Du Plooy said. 

Another short-term solution would be to equip additional existing boreholes and drill new boreholes. “We have already identified the location of the existing boreholes that need equipment, as well as the areas where new boreholes can be drilled, to VDM officials. These officials seemed to have disappeared from the earth, with no feedback at all,” Du Plooy said.