DA welcomes final SAHRC report and calls on Thembisile Hani Local Municipality to implement directives without delay

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the final report of the Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) which contains strong directives to fix the human rights violation of Thembisile Hani Municipality’s failure to supply water to its residents.

Thembisile Hani Municipality must now act and implement these directives without delay.  The DA laid a complaint of the violation of human rights due to the insufficient supply of water in a bid to free the residents of this community from years of suffering.  The community – a population of about 448 056 – has been fighting the battle to receive water for eight years now.

As the DA, we will work tirelessly to make sure that the following directives of the SAHRC are implemented by the municipality:

• The Municipality must submit a revised council approved plan for addressing the water access challenges within its jurisdiction in the short term, with due regard to the needs of the poor residents who cannot store large quantities of water at any given time within 3 months.
• The Municipality and the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) must jointly reconsider the Loskop Dam bulk supply project insofar as it pertains to the Municipality, with the view to aligning the projected water supply with the growing water demand within 3 months.
• Within 30 days of this report, the Municipality must submit a report on the status of all of its current water projects and the expected completion dates.
• DWS must submit a report on the status of the Loskop bulk water project, as well as reasons for the delays in the implementation of the project together with measures it will be taking to ensure the expedition of the project.
• The DWS must submit a report on the reason for delays in the processing of the Municipality’s water use license together with the measure to be taken to expedite the processing of the license.
  It is now time for Thembisile Hani Local Municipality to act urgently and take these directives serious because the residents cannot wait any longer for continuous water supply.