The people of Nxuba and surrounding areas in the Inxuba Yethemba Municipality have now entered their seventh consecutive day without water.
In the very month that South Africans commemorate Human Rights Day on 21 March, these residents are being denied their fundamental right to water.
Residents, businesses, and essential services have been left without a reliable water supply for an extended period.
This situation has now escalated beyond a routine service disruption. It directly impacts the constitutional right of residents to access sufficient water and poses an immediate threat to public health, dignity, and local economic activity.
I have therefore written to the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Zolile Williams, urging him to intervene urgently to spare the people of Nxuba any further hardship.
The water crisis reportedly stems from the failure of two water pumps allegedly damaged following a high-voltage surge linked to Eskom infrastructure.
Although these pumps were initially declared repaired, this intervention proved ineffective, and they have since been returned to East London for further repairs.
The current circumstances point to a serious breakdown in infrastructure resilience and response coordination. More concerning, however, is the apparent lack of urgency in resolving the crisis.
Communities cannot be expected to endure prolonged water outages without clear communication, credible timelines, or sufficient emergency relief.
MEC Williams and CoGTA must urgently intervene to stabilise the situation and restore water supply without further delay.
The current situation is untenable. Immediate and decisive action is required to protect both livelihoods and basic human dignity.
In the upcoming Local Government Elections the people of Inxuba Yethemba can vote in a responsible DA government that will focus on service delivery, safety and jobs. A DA government that will get the Inxuba Yethemba Municipality working.