Merafong water crisis: millions of litres jettisons from Fochville reservoir

The DA is alarmed at the water wastage that is taking place due to failing water infrastructure in the Merafong Municipality.

Millions of litres of drinking water is flowing through the streets in the Fochville area due to pipe bursts and leaks.

I will write to the Gauteng MEC for Local Government, Paul Mashatile, to request that his department does an urgent audit of the bulk services infrastructure at Merafong. I will also request that he pay special attention to the maintenance of the municipal water supply infrastructure.

Since last Friday, the DA Ward Councillor for Fochville, Annette Venter, has made numerous unanswered calls to the Merafong Municipality. Her attempts to get a reaction about the constant leaks, burst pipes and broken pressure release valves around the area of the Reservoir have been ignored. Neither the Mayor, nor the Water Services Manager could be reached for the entire weekend and no-one from the municipality responded has since to the serious and persistent leaks.

The DA has been reliably informed that the municipality is completely overwhelmed by the number of water leaks and valve breakdowns. We are further informed that the municipality no longer has the expertise to deal with these issues. It seems that years of cadre deployment and mismanagement by an uncaring ANC government is now bearing fruit.

To make matters worse, Merafong is also experiencing a collapse of supply chain management. As a result, the parts needed for repairs are routinely unavailable.

Water leaks in the Merafong area are a chronic but preventable problem. These leakages contribute greatly to the occurrence of sinkholes in areas like Khutsong.

The MEC must ensure that the municipality explains in full the cause and the extent of the damage caused by the pipe bursts. He must hold those responsible to account. The DA will continue to do all that it can to ensure that the residents of Merafong receive the service delivery to which they are entitled.

Media Enquiries

Ina Cilliers MPL
DA Merafong Constituency Head
060 556 4344

Anneke Scheepers
DA Gauteng Communications Manager
079 511 7501