Mr. Chrisjan van den Berg, chairperson of the Soutpansberg Rate Payers Association (SRPA), said that the letter written by their deputy-chairperson, Mr. Solly Maano, should act as a wake-up call for both the Makhado Municipality and the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) with regard to the continuous water shortages in their areas of jurisdiction.

In the letter, dated June 30 and addressed to the mayor and municipal manager of the Makhado Municipality, Maano states that “since the dawn of a new democratic government, the Vhembe District is experiencing very severe water shortages and all this mostly because of the Vhembe District Municipality’s incapacity and seeming lack of commitment from its senior officials.” The letter follows on the heels of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry´s annual Blue and Green Drop reports. (See reports on P6 and P7 of this edition)

Maano states that everyone knows that bulk water and sewerage services for the four municipalities, namely Makhado, Mutale, Musina and Thulamela, fall under the VDM.

“As residents of Makhado Municipality, it is very disturbing and disappointing to see residents in Nzhelele, Mulima, Waterval and Louis Trichardt without water. Residents in Louis Trichardt receive water for a few hours daily. The big question is, when will this suffering come to an end?” Maano states in the letter.

Maano further argues that it is high time that the four municipalities give the VDM an ultimatum with regard to each providing services to their own communities.

“…if VDM cannot handle water, they should hand bulk water supply back to the four local municipalities – plus any monetary allocation received from National Treasury or any other sources intended for bulk water supply,” Maano states.

With regard to the letter, Van den Berg asked why residents of Louis Trichardt should keep on paying for water if they were not getting any service? He added that the only solution for ratepayers was to join the Soutpansberg Rate Payers association en masse.

“Only when more than 50% of the town´s residents are members of the SRPA will we be in a position to force the Makhado Municipality and the VDM to provide adequate water for our town,” Van den Berg said.