Tempers flared in Hammanskraal when EFF members confronted a truck driver accused of being part of the ANC’s alleged scheme of selling water destined for residents at no cost.
The City of Tshwane was forced to shut down the operation of the Temba water treatment plant last week after it experienced equipment failure and maintenance related-challenges, affecting the quality of water supplied to communities.
Residents had widely complained that the water coming out of their taps was greenish-brown in colour.
Since then, the City had deployed from 50 to 70 roaming water tankers until the plant was back in operation.
On Friday, EFF members in the township claimed that most truck drivers were aligned to the ANC and said they were taking advantage of the people’s plight by selling water to residents for R100.
In a video doing the rounds on social media, some EFF members wearing party colours could be seen next to a water tanker, exchanging heated words with a group of people believed to be ANC members.
The alleged sale of water was said to be taking place mostly in wards 76 and 8.
Speaking on behalf of the local EFF, Baatseba Nchabeleng, said: “There are people aligned to the ANC who are selling water for R100 to the poor community of Hammanskraal, despite the fact that the municipality provided water at no charge to residents.”
Nchabeleng claimed there were some people working with the ANC members to use “the water crisis in the township to manipulate people to be part of it”.
“They are mobilizing for votes using the basic commodity that should be accessible for free to the people,” she said.
She also hit out at the City for failing to communicate on time the implementation of their water delivery strategy.
“Taking a bath in Hammanskraal is a luxury; even to wash the dishes is a luxury due to water scarcity. We have been saying that in Kekana Gardens (part of Hammanskraal), there is a communal tank which could be used to store water so that people can fetch water from it to avoid the sale of water,” Nchabeleng said.
Asked to disclose the name of the ANC members behind the sale of water, she said: “These are ANC members that we know and we are not going to name them publicly to avoid litigation against us.”
ANC regional secretary Eugene “Bonzo” Modise said on Saturday he was aware of the video, but he was not going to comment on the accusations levelled against the ANC members until he had established the facts.
Tshwane MMC for Utility Services Phillip Nel said the repair and maintenance work at the Temba plant had been completed within the scheduled time.
“In order to assist the flushing process, we have also deployed teams to clean the reservoirs to help in the restoration of the water supply.”
He said the flushing process was still going to result in discoloured water being released as operating capacity was restored.
“This is normal and expected; residents must not be alarmed when discoloured water leaves their taps as it will ultimately become clear,” he said.
Regarding the alleged sale of water, he said he had not received complaints about it, but sternly said no one should be made to pay for water distributed by the metro.
He encouraged those complaining to report such incidents to the local regional office so that the cases could be investigated.
He said people could take down the registration number of the truck alleged to be involved in the sale of water and report it to the City, together with the location where it was spotted.
Regarding allegations that the ANC members were behind the alleged sale of water, Nel said: “I don’t want to name people, but I do know that there are local interest groups and business forums that are trying to dominate the process. I cannot speak authoritatively about it because I don’t have first-hand information about the incident.”
-Pretoria News
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