https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / Statements RSS ← Back
Repairs|Sanitation|Water
Repairs|Sanitation|Water
repairs|sanitation|water
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Article Enquiry

Deputy President Mashatile chooses politics over Republic, as Gauteng Water Crisis escalates

Close

Embed Video

Deputy President Mashatile chooses politics over Republic, as Gauteng Water Crisis escalates

Image of Paul Mashatile
Deputy President Paul Mashatile

1st November 2024

ARTICLE ENQUIRY      SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

Yesterday in Parliament, Deputy President, Paul Mashatile, responded to questions on actions he is taking against Gauteng's MEC for CoGTA, Jacob Mamabolo, and Premier Panyaza Lesufi over Gauteng's current water crisis, which Rand Water warned of since May this year.

Instead of putting politics aside, the Deputy President sought to protect Gauteng's officials, arguing National Government was intervening despite both spheres of government being aware of it almost 5 months ago.

Advertisement

The Deputy President is being misleading, as Minister Pemmy Majodina previously acknowledged the Department’s repeated interventions in Gauteng, which have proven ineffective while local governments persist in neglecting leak repairs, fail to improve revenue collection, and continue to delay repaying their outstanding debt to Rand Water.

While Mashtile conceded that earlier action could have been taken, his response of the Minister being "on the ground" to address Gauteng's water supply shortage is insufficient.

Advertisement

His failure to hold Gauteng's officials to account is concerning. Deputy President Mashatile chairs the Water Task Team, which seeks to support National Government's efforts in addressing water issues in our country. Further, having sworn an oath to our Constitution, he is meant to protect our nation's interest, not cover for his political allies.

Gauteng's water crisis underscores the dire consequences when national government fails to hold provinces and local authorities to account when they neglect their responsibilities. Gauteng’s government must be held accountable for its inaction, which has jeopardized the lives and livelihoods of its residents. This suffering was entirely preventable.

The Democratic Alliance in Parliament will continue to ensure effective oversight of our country's water supply. While National Assembly Speaker, Thoko Didiza, has denied our request for a debate of national importance, we will continue to ensure that this matter is debated in Parliament.

Quality water and sanitation is a constitutional right, which the DA will protect.

 

Issued by Stephen Moore MP - DA Deputy Spokesperson on Water and Sanitation

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE ARTICLE ENQUIRY

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

 

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options

Email Registration Success

Thank you, you have successfully subscribed to one or more of Creamer Media’s email newsletters. You should start receiving the email newsletters in due course.

Our email newsletters may land in your junk or spam folder. To prevent this, kindly add newsletters@creamermedia.co.za to your address book or safe sender list. If you experience any issues with the receipt of our email newsletters, please email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za