Johannesburg - Business organisation Sakeliga is threatening legal action against water utility Sedibeng Water to stop the suspension of water supply to large parts of North West due to municipalities' outstanding debt and non-payment.
Sedibeng Water issued a written instruction to all its employees on Tuesday to suspend all operations and services to municipalities that fall under the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality on June 1 due to municipalities' outstanding debt and non-payment. The water utility further issued instructions to cut the water supply to the Ditsobotla Local Municipality on July 1.
The looming disruption affects towns such as Mahikeng, Lichtenburg, Delareyville, Ottosdal, and Zeerust.
The Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu revealed during her budget vote speech on Tuesday that municipalities across the country owed the department more than R12-billion in unpaid water bills. According to records, Matjhabeng local municipality owes Sedibeng Water R4,185-billion.
Sakeliga announced that the organisation was currently preparing an urgent court application to ensure water supply in the North West and “prevent a local economic catastrophe.”
The chief executive of Sakeliga Piet le Roux said that Sedibeng Water, as an organ of state as such, may not interrupt its services to paying businesses and the community at large until it has at least complied with the legal prescriptions on intergovernmental disputes.
“The state must stop shifting the burden of its internal problems to business people and the local community. Sedibeng Water is an organ of state and does not have the right to suspend services to businesses and the public at large owing to its failure to obtain proper payment from another organ of state,” the chief executive said.
Le Roux further emphasised that the disruption of water services had damaging economic and humanitarian consequences.
“The cutting off of water can be the final straw, forcing businesses to leave these areas, with a spiral of deterioration certain to follow the exodus,” he said.
The organisation gave Sedibeng Water until yesterday morning to withdraw its instructions to its employees and to ensure continuous services.
“We anticipate that the outcome of this urgent litigation will be to secure water supply at least on a temporary basis,” Le Roux said.
Meanwhile, FF Plus MP and party spokesperson Michal Groenewald said that the communities in question were bearing the brunt of mismanagement and corruption.
“Businesses are suffering great losses and interruptions in the water supply pose a health risk to residents and undermine the national fight against Covid-19. An emphasis on hygiene is the most powerful and effective weapon in the fight against the pandemic,” Groenewald said.
The MP said that North West was one of the most dilapidated provinces in the country following a recent oversight visit by the parliamentary Committee on the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) to the North West.
Groenewald added that the FF Plus has brought the issue to the attention of the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta). The party further approached the deputy Minister of Cogta, Obed Bapela, and requested interventions at these mismanaged municipalities.
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