“Mangaung is under such dire financial strain and we need practical, innovative solutions to stretch the existing rand, and to fix things without complicated and expensive solutions.”
This is according to the Democratic Alliance (DA) Member of Parliament, and Shadow Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Cilliers Brink, following his short visit to Bloemfontein in the Free State to assess issues of service delivery.
Brink says the DA’s water affairs and sanitation expert in Mangaung, Rossouw Botes, has set out the immediate solution to water shortages that have hit the city hard.
However, Brink cautioned that part of the solution also lies with the fact that the municipality has to play its part in ensuring that it settles the debt with Bloem Water, as it won’t survive if the metro does not pay what is due to them.
He says the other part of the solution to the water crisis is to make sure that the building of a reservoir at Pellissier is completed – the supply point that will assist Bloem Water that supplies about 69% of the need for water in the metro.
Brink further said other interventions can include the fixing of the sewerage gate at Maselspoort, as well as implementing innovative solutions that can save costs.
He concludes that he will present the matter to the national Minister of Local Government, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who has to understand the importance of the project because the national government has an obligation, as stipulated in the Constitution, to support and monitor what is happening in municipalities.
Bloemfontein Courant previously reported that the municipal spokesperson, Qondile Khedama, had reported that both the Maselspoort and Welbedacht Water Treatment Plants are under stress as a result of high water demand.
Kekeletso Mosebetsi
kekeletso@centralmediagroup.co.za
