The Makhado Municipality reacted to the incident where the chairman of the Soutpansberg Rate Payers Association was chased from the Albasini water reticulation plant.

The municipal spokesperson, Mr Louis Bobodi, said on April 22 that a formal application should be made to seek permission to enter the premises.

In the past, the SRPA Chairman, Mr Herman Smith, regularly visited sites of concern to ratepayers for the purpose of inspection. He had visited the reticulation plant on several occasions and had conversed with the caretaker on these occasions. On April 13, he was chased from the reticulation plant. The reason given by the caretaker was that "You people always take photographs".

Bobodi said that Mr Smith was probably chased away because he was considered an intruder. He said that he was not in a position to respond to the question of why taking photographs of the plant was a problem. It was also not clear how long the applicant making a formal application to enter the premises will have to wait for a response.

Mr Smith wrote in a letter to the municipal manager: "If this association or anybody else is not welcome and allowed to inspect problem areas as identified, for the community as a whole, especially when it concerns their safety and health, it can only indicate that something is very wrong and that the public are not given the facts. It will also create a negative effect and increase the suspicion that all is not well at the plants. We hereby request you to permit us to inspect the plants regularly." The letter with the request was dated April 15.

It remains to be seen when a response to the request will be made.

The most basic requirements of a water reticulation plant include, first of all, a well-designed system that is easily managed and where the monitoring is simple and sustainable. Highly qualified personnel should test the water for pathogens and heavy metals. Personnel should be able to read the system and discern that problems are developing and be proactive to solve problems. The quality of the water must meet the requirements of the SABS 241 standard. These basic requirements were mentioned in a research document compiled last year by Mr Carel Breytenbach of the SRPA.