Residents of the Greater Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality have overwhelmingly supported the Water Services Amendment Bill, particularly the solidification of provisions to suspend and revoke the licences of water service providers that fail to deliver quality water services.
The residents expressed their views on the Bill yesterday during the second leg of the North West public hearings on the Bill, held at the Mahikeng Civic Centre in Mahikeng. Participants argued that, due to the current challenges within the district, they are of the view that the licence of Ngaka Modiri Molema should be the first to be revoked with immediate effect as they spend countless days without water. They also argued that, in most cases, municipalities are not adequately capacitated to meet the standards of their licences, and that renders them unable to deliver quality services. They told the committee that their support for the Bill is largely based on the Bill’s potential to address the lack of access to quality water and sanitation within the municipality. They pointed out that their support for the Bill should translate into legislation that will work for the people and they called for the effective implementation of the Bill to ensure that it yields the expected fruit. There were concerns that were highlighted that the Bill does not specifically address the plight of rural communities and the quality of water they should expect. There was a proposal for a clause in the Bill which explains, among other things, the quality of water the people will receive, and sanctions for non-compliance by water services licence holders.
Furthermore, participants expressed concerns over the continued overreliance on water tankers. They argued that the financial resources used on water tankers could be used for a long-term water provision arrangement. Some participants told the committee that water tankers supply questionable water and exposing communities to health hazards. Some participants raised concerns that the provision of quality water was overemphasised than the provision of sanitation services, yet both are equally essential. Similar to other hearings already held in other provinces, participants raised various challenges regarding the provision of water, with many of them highlighting that they depend on untested borehole.
Some participants told the committee that communities rely on very few boreholes despite the rising number of people that results in more demand.Participants also told the committee that they live without water for a number of days sometimes in their communities and they described that as a gross deprivation of their constitutional rights to water.
The committee will today hold the final session of public hearings in the North West at the Klerksdorp Civic Centre. The committee calls on the community of Dr Kenneth Kaunda District to attend the session and to participate meaningfully in it by sharing their views on the Bill.
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