The DA is concerned that the Tshwane metro is not treating the outbreak of typhoid in Bronkhorstspruit with sufficient urgency.
The breakdown of the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Plant has been coming for a number of months, with its capacity diminishing sharply, especially since November last year.
Residents in Bronkhorstspruit Town, Zithobeni, Ekangala, Rethabiseng and surrounding communities have been unable to safely drink water from their taps for almost 10 months, forcing families to buy drinking water or rely on municipal water tankers.
Since then, the situation has deteriorated further, with the plant now producing only 15 megalitres of water per day.
This is not a sudden crisis.
In November last year, the Department of Water and Sanitation reported that the plant was already operating at just 38 ML/day of its 54 ML/day capacity. The warning signs were clear. The administration had ample time to intervene before the situation deteriorated further.
Almost 10 months later, production has fallen even further, while residents are still waiting for safe and reliable water.
I have also witnessed for myself how the wastewater treatment plant in Bronkhorstspruit is polluting natural river sources.
It is as if this community has simply been forgotten by Tshwane.
Instead of investing in the critical infrastructure needed to put water in people’s taps, the ANC-led administration continues to make communities dependent on water tankers.
Across Tshwane, this administration has prioritised water in tankers instead of water in taps, enriching the water tanker mafia while critical municipal infrastructure is allowed to deteriorate.
This cannot continue.
To prevent a serious outbreak of typhoid and other possible diseases, the administration of Mayor Nasiphi Moya must set out a clear plan, with firm deadlines, for when the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Plant will be restored to full capacity and how the deterioration of wastewater infrastructure will be addressed.
The people of Bronkhorstspruit deserve the same basic services as every other community in Tshwane.
They need safe water in their taps, functioning infrastructure and a government that does not forget them.