AfriForum has described the North Gauteng High Court’s granting of a court order to force the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) to, among others, supply the residents of Makhado (Louis Trichardt) with water, as a “landmark victory that has set a legal precedent for other municipalities across the country to use.”

The civil rights organization obtained a court order against the VDM on 2 October, with the VDM being ordered to pay the costs of the court application.

“This court order forces the Vhembe Municipality to do their work. AfriForum will monitor the adherence to the time frames set out in the order and keep the pressure on the municipality. The order sets a national precedent for supplying water and service delivery in general as the order commits the municipality to report progress from building infrastructure, to making running water available…” said AfriForum lawyer Werner Human.

According to the court order, the test results on the five newly drilled boreholes must be forwarded to the AfriForum attorneys by 17 October. The sixth borehole has to be re-drilled. By 30 November, the boreholes have to be equipped with pumps and coupled to the reticulation network and start supplying water. Pending the completion of the borehole scheme, town residents should receive water on a daily basis between 04:00 to10:00 and between 16:00 to 20:00. By 12 October, an implementation plan for clearing the vegetation along the route of the Albasini pipeline will be supplied and thereafter monitored on a daily basis. By 15 December, VDM will also have to inform residents of the impact of the borehole scheme on the water supply.

AfriForum Louis Trichardt chairperson Wally Schultz said that they had started out with seemingly small steps that can be enforced and pave the way for more steps in the process to have the water supply restored. “We have recourse to instant action for contempt of court by individuals, should the order not be followed to the letter,” Schultz said.

Although AfriForum “has the muscle to force change and monitor progress”, Schultz made an urgent plea for realistic expectations. “The court order is not a magic wand that will instantly get the water flowing in our taps … The task is enormous: 20 years of neglect has destroyed the now crumbling infrastructure of our town. We will now ensure that it is repaired but have no illusions; it is a massive task,” Schultz said.

Even more massive is the water crisis in the surrounding villages. The dire situation of residents of the Vyeboom, Nzhelele and Madombidzha areas caught the attention of Ms Meisie Kennedy, DA member of the provincial legislature, who accompanied a protest march to the Makhado Municipality on 5 October. The memorandum they presented to the municipality demands that urgent steps be taken to ensure that every member of the communities under the municipality has access to water and that the sewage infrastructure be fixed.  

In the meantime, a spate of theft of cables and motors occurred at some of the boreholes supplying water to the part of town west of the N1. On Monday this week, the spokesperson of VDM, Mr Matodzi Ralushai, was taken on a tour to the vandalized boreholes. None of the VDM’s technical department was present. The boreholes are situated on both sides of the Madombidzha road in the Rietvlei area. Theft had taken place at five of the nine boreholes inspected. At three boreholes, the motor as well as the cables had been stolen. Two of the boreholes, both on the southern side of the Madombidzha road, were properly secured in the sense that the pump was encased in cement and closed with a strong steel lid. At each borehole, an orange steel structure could be seen, containing expensive equipment that should give an alert when the boreholes or pumps are tampered with. The system has apparently not been kept in working order.

Aghast at the theft and vandalism, Ralushai said that these operations were performed by a very-well-organized team. He said that security measures at boreholes would have to be financed by Vhembe. At the time of going to press, the case numbers and replacement costs were not yet available.

AfriForum regards security of the town’s water supply infrastructure as an urgent priority. “The casual approach to security that has bedevilled water and sewerage installations can no longer be tolerated. Surely the enormous cost of constant replacement will be eliminated by the comparably small outlay of introducing effective security measures,” said Schultz.