Several stakeholders have told the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) that Gauteng’s water crisis is getting worse because of poor management, corruption and broken infrastructure.
The SAHRC held the first day of a three-day public inquiry at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg on Tuesday to investigate ongoing water shortages and whether government is failing to protect people’s right to water.
WaterCAN executive director Ferrial Adam said residents are tired of promises and government plans that do not solve the problems and that the inquiry must lead to real action.
“The constitutional right to water cannot survive on press statements and task teams,” said Adam.
She warned that communities were frustrated after years of water cuts, leaking pipes and poor service delivery.
The inquiry also heard that many municipalities in Gauteng are struggling financially and cannot maintain water infrastructure properly.
According to Auditor-General South Africa representative Andries Sekgetho, several municipalities continued to receive poor audit outcomes because of weak financial controls and weak management.
Sekgetho told the commission that the performance of Gauteng municipalities had been poor during this period, with no municipality managing to maintain a consistent clean audit outcome.
“As you can see, no other municipality was able to get a consistent clean audit, with some of them regressing, including significant metros such as the City of Joburg and Ekurhuleni, which are now qualified in terms of their findings,” Sekgetho said
David-Hutch Barr from the Primrose Ratepayers Association claimed there was corruption linked to water tanker contracts and political interference in service delivery.
Barr told the inquiry that people are suffering and some elderly residents in Ekurhuleni had gone for weeks without water.
He also warned that businesses were under pressure because of ongoing water shortages.
“One company is looking at retrenching more than 200 workers because of the water crisis,” he said.
The SAHRC said the inquiry would investigate infrastructure failures, poor planning, governance problems and emergency responses linked to water shortages in Gauteng.
Residents across the province have experienced repeated water cuts, sewage spills, leaking pipes and long delays in repairs over the past year.
TimesLIVE
Seipati Mothoa
www.timeslive.co.za
