The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has been inundated with water and sewage complaints from Gauteng residents.
The SAHRC says they receive an average of 1500 complaints per year in the province on a range of service delivery issues.
The Commission briefed the media yesterday on matters they have investigated which include the Hammanskraal cholera matter, infrastructure challenges and challenges with the province’s hospitals among others.
Legal officer at the Gauteng SAHRC, Harriette Buga says ailing infrastructure has been identified as a contributing factor to ongoing water woes.
Buga says, “The commission identified the Vaal and they are under the critical infrastructure, which meant that if there was nothing done to make sure that the pollution in the Vaal was dealt with, then there would be lots of spillage. This spillage went right through people’s homes, schools and creches.”
Water cuts
AfriForum has called on communities to notify the organisation of any water cuts implemented by Rand Water for debt collection purposes.
The Pretoria High Court found that Rand Water’s water cuts were illegal and determined that the civil rights organisation must approach the court again on an urgent basis for an interdict if it becomes aware of any similar water cuts by the water utility.
Afriforum brought an urgent application against Rand Water, following the water supplies decision to reduce water supply to several municipalities across the country.
It says Rand Water should appoint an alternative company to manage the revenue collection as well as the maintenance and management of the water networks.
Advisor for Local Government Affairs at AfriForum, Petrus Coetzee says, “So from outside in terms of the court case, we have to monitor the situation in terms of the water cuts…Rand Water has undertaken to implement these water cuts without following the correct process.”
VIDEO: Water problems in Johannesburg:
Additional reporting by Tshimangadzo Ntsumbedzeni
