Durban — Political party leaders proposed solutions to solve the water supply issues in the Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu – INK areas, during a town hall meeting in KwaMashu on Wednesday.
The discussion was facilitated by the YMCA non-profit organisation and political leaders made up the panellists. The INK areas and northern eThekwini Municipality areas are marred by water supply challenges.
A resident from ward 45, Zanele Mtshali, questioned the politicians’ accountability.
“Is it because politicians have lost interest in people that they have neglected this issue for so long? It is a disgrace that communities that have dams that overflow have no water,” said Mtshali.
Another resident, Prince Msomi, said South Africa exports coal to other countries while residents experience load shedding.
Africa Dlomo, an eThekwini ward 38 co-ordinator, said they want to scrap the private ownership of dams.
“Water is a fundamental right. We want to hire 10 000 artisans who will help build infrastructure,” he said.
He also said there is a lot of criminality involved with the water tanks, which has heightened water issues.
The ANC was represented by eThekwini secretary-general Musa Nciki, the IFP by Mncedisi Nxumalo, and Mzamo Billy spoke on behalf of the DA.
Bonginkosi Dlamini represented the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), Africa Dlomo the EFF, Ntokozo Biyela Build One SA (Bosa), and Simphiwe Mkhwanazi ActionSA.
Nciki said their manifesto was based on six priorities, and the ANC government has programmes in place to resolve the issues and invest in people.
“We have signed a partnership with Umgeni Water to fix the issue of water,” he said.
Nxumalo said the opposition party’s job is to pressurise the governing party to bring service delivery.
“The issue comes from when parties fail to support us when there is a motion of removing leaders who are incompetent. There is water in the communities, but it has been switched off. If you want to see the ANC in power after so long, forget about it.”
Nxumalo added that they planned to tackle the issue of unemployment by creating a database that has information on how many people need jobs and for which career.
Biyela said Bosa intends to create a self-reliant youth society without neglecting adults.
“We want a job in every home, and we want graduates to be trained in entrepreneurship. We have already trained graduates, and we also want to tackle the issue of the missing middle,” he said.
Dlamini said that the issue of water started when certain people decided to abuse the tender system and use water tankers to destroy the pipes to enrich themselves through tenders.
Mkhwanazi said their focus was to ensure strict immigration laws to protect the economy and on job creation.
The DA, represented by Billy, want to create an anti-corruption unit that ensures leaders follow the correct procedures to employ people.
Billy said water loss has become a huge business in eThekwini, with certain people benefiting by R20 000 to R50 000 per tank delivery.
“The ANC government has neglected the issue of water for too long,” he said.
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