Johannesburg - Government has delivered blood and not water in Mothutlung near Brits in the North West, DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko said on Monday.
“Puso e e maaka gae thusi setshaba (Instead of a government which tries to solve a problem honestly, you have been met with lies),” she said in a speech prepared for delivery.
“And instead of a police service which is meant to keep you safe and protect you, you have been met by a brutal killing machine.”
Mazibuko was addressing Mothutlung residents during an oversight visit.
Four people have died following recent violent clashes in the area over access to water.
Two protesters were shot dead, allegedly by police last week. Another man died after falling out of a moving police vehicle in a bid to escape, according to police.
The fourth man reportedly died on Sunday. Jacaranda fm news quoted Damonsville community leader Paul Hendricks as saying: “He was shot in the head with live ammunition and taken to Ga-Rankuwa hospital where the bullet was removed.”
According to SABC radio news, the man spent seven days in the intensive care unit of the hospital.
Mazibuko sent her condolences to all the families.
“I have come to see with my own eyes what is happening in Mothutlung so that I can take this matter back to Parliament and use every mechanism available to hold the government (to) account for how you have been treated.
“Because we cannot allow our people to be treated like animals and have a government which has forgotten the people get away with this indifference and brutality,” she said.
Mazibuko said the African National Congress of today had abandoned former president Nelson Mandela’s ideals and the promise he made in 1994.
The situation in Mothutlung was the conclusion of President Jacob Zuma’s ANC's disastrous term in office, she said.
“The progress which was made by South Africa's first democratic government is being reversed.
“And why? Because a corrupt elite is being allowed to run rampant by President Zuma's ANC Ä where leaders only care about enriching themselves,” Mazibuko said.
Mazibuko said she would write to Public Protector Thuli Madonsela on Monday and ask her to launch an investigation into the water crisis.
Sapa