Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister David Mahlobo says its engagements with the City of Tshwane in attempting to fix water issues over the past years have not been productive due to the city’s alleged non-commitment.
Mahlobo was speaking at Jubilee Hospital in Hammanskraal where 15 people have died following the outbreak of the disease in the area.
Media briefing on cholera deaths in Hammanskraal:
Mahlobo has also blamed political instability that has rocked the city since 2016.
The department had taken the metro to court in an attempt to force it to comply to directives issued as means of intervention. The city opposed the legal action.
Mahlobo says they will be meeting with Mayor Cilliers Brink over the issue.
“On many instances our engagement with Tshwane has not been productive. We’d agree with them, put in a plan and they default. And citizens in terms of their first to access water will be affected. The water pollution around many wastewater treatments around Tshwane is not good. It never made any provision that when its population and its contribution to the GDP grew, it expanded its water treatment plans. Their water treatment plants are dysfunctional.”
