DA to write to SAHRC as KZN communities face ‘day zero’ with no water
7 November 2019
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will today write to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) as several communities across KwaZulu-Natal face ‘day zero’ with no water.
The shortages, which have reached crisis level as a result of drought conditions, a lack of planning and maintenance as well as ageing infrastructure have led to people in parts of Northern KZN, Ugu, Himeville and surrounding areas and the Harry Gwala District not having running water for days on end.
The DA believes that KZN’s ANC-led CoGTA Department, under MEC Sipho Hlomuka, have a lot to answer for as these communities now find themselves in the midst of a human rights crisis. At best, he and his Department are simply incompetent. At worst, they do not care about the people they are meant to provide services to and are KZN’s latest human rights offenders.
KZN’s water issues are not new, yet there has been no urgency on the part of the Department when it comes to remedying the situation. That it is now scrambling to find solutions is an indictment against its so-called leadership, particularly when it has access to long-term forecasts in respect of weather patterns.