The FF Plus has requested the acting MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in the Free State, Tate Makgoe, to implement measures to restore the water supply to residents living in Gariep Dam in the Kopanong municipal district. The town gets its water from Bloemwater.
Ironically enough, while the Gariep Dam near town is overflowing, residents are without water due to the municipality’s non-payment of the water supplier.
The FF Plus received complaints from residents of the town that has been without water since last Sunday due to outstanding debt. When queried, Bloemwater said that it will restore the water supply once it has received payment from the Kopanong municipality.
The department needs to urgently address the problem with water supply in the Free State, which is brought on by municipalities’ non-payment, because residents are currently being deprived of their right to clean water as stipulated in Section 27 of the Constitution.
By December 2017, Kopanong owed Bloemwater R218 million and now the municipality’s poor financial management is depriving Gariep Dam residents of basic service delivery.
It is Kopanong’s responsibility to ensure that service providers are paid while it is Bloemwater’s responsibility to ensure that debt is collected and thus the point where service delivery is suspended should not be reached.
The FF Plus will lodge a complaint with the Consumer Commission against Kopanong municipality and Bloemwater.
The FF Plus is of the opinion that depriving residents of services that they paid for because of the municipality’s poor financial management and non-payment is a violation of the Consumer Protection Act.
Contact details: 082 490 6663
