Bronkhorstspruit water crisis sparks fresh political blame game

If it wasn’t the DA and ActionSA fighting over who was to blame for the contaminated water in Bronkhorstspruit; it was ActionSA and the EFF.

EFF treasurer-general and Tshwane mayoral candidate Omphile Maotwe not only opened a criminal case with the police but also lodged a complaint at the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) against mayor Nasiphi Moya and city manager Johann Mettler over the contamination crisis.

EFF takes complaints against Tshwane leadership to authorities

This follows the EFF Tshwane calling for the immediate resignation of the mayor for what the party described as failing to provide residents with safe and reliable water in Bronkhorstspruit.

“Celebrating paying Eskom was worthless when residents had no water, roads were full of potholes and the streetlights work depending on the number of white people in an area,” the party said.

“Water is life. No amount of money justifies exposing residents to unsafe water.

“We have already seen water kill people, children in particular, in Hammanskraal through maladministration, incompetence and sheer corruption.”

ActionSA criticises EFF response to water crisis

But ActionSA Tshwane caucus spokesperson Henriette Frohlich slammed EFF MMC for health Tshegofatso Mashabela, saying instead of being on the ground assessing the ongoing water crisis, Mashabela was on social media, criticising anyone who questioned her absence.

“The shocking absence of both EFF MMCs in addressing the ongoing health and environmental crisis in Bronkhorstspruit is telling,” Frohlich said.

Parliament’s committees on water and health had agreed to hold a joint hearing about Tshwane’s failures to supply clean water in Bronkhorstspruit – a move hailed by DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink.

“Parliament’s committees can and should exert thorough oversight of governance failures like this one and should hold local governments accountable when hundreds of people fall ill due to untreated water.”

DA raises concerns over wider water contamination

Brink said information sent to the DA alleged that chlorine was absent at numerous water treatment plants, not just Bronkhorstspruit.

“The city must confirm whether all its other treatment plants have adequate supplies of chlorine, whether all water has been properly treated and if any other communities may have been exposed to unsafe drinking water.”

The public deserves to know whether this crisis was confined to Bronkhorstspruit or whether it points to a wider breakdown in the management of Tshwane’s water infrastructure, under Moya, Brink said.