No consumer should be without water for more than seven days per year, but many Bloemfontein residents know that this is not the case here.
Residents must sometimes cope for weeks without water in their taps, like the residents of Groenvlei who recently had to go without water for more than four weeks.
Dr Roy Jankielsohn, DA leader in the Free State, announced on Thursday, 22 February, that the DA had drafted a comprehensive report on the impact of water-based fragility on the human rights of residents. This report was handed over to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).
Jankielsohn said at a news conference in Bloemfontein that the DA requested the Human Rights Commission to consider the report and use all possible authority to assist residents of the Free State whose human rights are violated by deliberate actions, and often inactions, of the provincial and local governments.
In the report he states that the Mangaung Metro experiences water losses of R406 million per annum, which is about 46% of all treated water.
According to a statement by Rossouw Botes, DA councillor, the municipality has lost over R1,8 billion in drinking water over the last decade.
This amounts for daily losses of approximately R488 000.
In his report, the office of the Auditor-General (AG) has consistently highlighted water losses as an issue in the annual report.
The metro’s average water losses of 39% soars above the accepted national average of 19%.
The problems at Groenvlei, which receives water from the Spitskop Reservoir, is specifically mentioned in the report of shortcomings in the metro. The problem at this reservoir is that it has had no ball valve for the past seven years, and it either overflows on a regular basis or leave residents stranded without water as flows empty.
Johan Pretorius, DA councillor, explains the ball valves must be opened and closed manually. This also affects the Slypsteen Reservoir that feeds Bloemdal and Ferreira, as well as the Ednau Reservoir that feeds the Arcadia and Waterbron small holdings in Bainsvlei.
Water shortages in the metro are expected to be mitigated by the upgrade of the Maselspoort purification plant and a long term water supply project that will involve pumping water through a 200 km pipeline from Gariep Dam at a cost of R10 billion. This project’s completion date was previously projected for 2029.
Jankielson says it is doubtful that the date will be realised due to limited funds, with serious economic implications for the metro in the future.
Poorly managed and ageing infrastructure contributes significantly to poor services in the metro, but also in other towns in the Free State.
The national government reports indicate that 64 of 96 wastewater systems in the province are in a critical condition while 80% do not have plans in place to improve this.
