The community of Heilbron is despondent over the ongoing water crisis the town is experiencing due to mismanagement.
The DA in the Ngwathe Local Municipality handed over a memorandum to the municipality to restore full water capacity and to provide clean water to Heilbron community, in addition to resolving the debt problem with the Rand Water Board (RWB).
“It is imperative to recognise that clean drinking water is citizens’ constitutional right, and Ngwathe is legally obliged to provide it.
“Currently, water flow from the RWB to Heilbron is reduced as a debt collection measure, owing to overdue debts of approximately R70 million for bulk water purchases.
“There is also a looming threat of even sharper restrictions by the RWB, exacerbating the water crisis,” says Robert Ferendale, DA councilor of the beleaguered Ngwathe Local Municipality.
Ferendale says immediate action is needed from the municipality’s management team to take the lead in negotiating a debt settlement agreement with the RWB to prevent further water shortages. There is also a demand for the immediate resumption of normal water flow to Heilbron.
The DA has pledged to persist in its advocating for the resolution of this issue in Heilbron, ensuring the community’s fundamental right to clean water is acknowledged and upheld.
