Residents of Merafong City local municipality in Gauteng are unaware of the water restrictions in the municipality as it has not been advertised or communicated to residents, the Democratic Alliance said on Sunday.
“The municipality allegedly does not have an advertising budget to fund such a campaign,” Gauteng MPL Ina Cilliers said.
On October 27, the Merafong council considered a report on water restrictions and resolved that:
– water restrictions be implemented in the whole of the Merafong municipal area;
– the director of infrastructure development provide a plan on water infrastructure repairs in line with the council’s “Stop leakages” initiative;
– the council achieve a 15 percent water restriction target;
– the municipality gives the assurance that water leaks will be addressed within a specific time period. (Although no time period was specified);
– residents must be encouraged to fix their own leaks as more restrictions will affect them in future if they do not; and
– that the mayor be the face of the Merafong “Save water campaign” and councillors be ambassadors for the campaign.
“While we commend the efforts of the council in trying to save water the implementation should match the intended plan,” she said.
“So too, should it stick to its own resolutions and take the leadership in saving water. However, this does not seem to be the case as sprayers are used to water the Carletonville sports grounds every day during daytime.”
The council should lead by example in implementing water restrictions. The irrigation system of the municipality was on every day in full view of residents passing by. This set a bad example and entrenched the image of an uncaring government.
In September this year, the municipality failed to repair a burst water pipe for six weeks, losing more than 1.6 million litres of fresh water per month. Given the current drought conditions, it was imperative that residents were well informed. The DA would go door-to-door and host community meetings to inform residents to using water sparingly, Cilliers said.
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