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Sol Plaatje’s latest water crisis could largely have been prevented if the municipality timeously responded to the DA’s warning in respect of a leak on a major pipeline.

On 8 July this year, I conducted oversight inspections along some of the main waterlines in and around Kimberley, with fellow DA councillor, Heinrich Pieterse. See pics here and here.

We came across a massive leak on the Droogfontein Road, on the other side of Midlands. We immediately reported it to Sol Plaatje, but it fell on deaf ears.

This weekend, the same leak turned into a full-blown pipe burst, leaving parts of Kimberley without water for two days. Nightly water cuts also had to be reinstated to allow dam levels to be restored.

It is worrying that, in spite of the fuss made about Sol Plaatje’s water and sanitation turn-around plan, that reported water leaks are still not being properly responded to.

The plan to resolve more than 6 000 reported water leaks in and around Kimberley, that are resulting in losses of potable water to the value of over R69 million, is ambitious but must be achieved in order to spare residents from further water shutdowns, especially in the coming hot summer months.

While we are aware that the clustering of different areas is still being finalised, as is the appointment of specialised teams, this doesn’t mean that water repairs should be put on ice in the interim.

When the utility committee meets later this week, the DA will ask that the implementation of the Turnaround-plan must be sped up. Sol Plaatje must act now to prevent the plan from becoming another failed municipal intervention.

Issued by Ockert Fourie, Cllr - Sol Plaatje Municipality