In yet another spectacular failure on the part of the Chris Hani District Municipality, the taps in Qumanco Village are bone dry and residents must fend for themselves by using water from a nearby river or by travelling 25 km to the town of eNgcobo to buy water.
All the infrastructure is in place, with taps placed strategically throughout the village and a reservoir on the hill to gravity feed the taps. However, the taps cannot be opened and have seemingly been welded closed or dismantled so that villagers cannot open them.
Further north in the town of Khowa (Elliot), sewage still flows freely from the sewage works into the Slangrivier, which then flows into the Xuka River and ultimately the Mbashe River. Thousands of villagers access this water for their personal use. Sadly, this phenomenon is common throughout all villages and towns in the ANC-governed Chris Hani district.
To the extreme west of the district, Hofmeyr still has dry taps because the same district municipality has, almost a full year after the town made headlines for having no water in the taps, not resolved the water crisis there.
I shall write to the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, to request that consequence management be implemented against the troika of the Chris Hani District Municipality for their spectacular failure to provide these essential services to the people of the district. It cannot be that they continue to fail residents with impunity and nobody is held to account.
Citizens are tired of getting a bag of mielie meal, a mouthful of promises and a new t-shirt every five years. They want access to basic services, which is their right as enshrined in the Constitution of our country.
The 2024 elections are an opportunity to rally behind the Democratic Alliance to rescue the Eastern Cape and bring clean and honest governance to all citizens.