It’s really been a k*kspul, the locals are saying. Some of the buildings were stinking so much it had to be abandoned. Shops ran out of bottled water.
Unfortunately this is not an isolated bugger-up, but symptomatic of negligence on the part of municipalities who cannot maintain infrastructure.
What happened in PE is that crumbling infrastructure led to the water shortages. This cannot be left unchallenged. Furthermore, adequate funding must be found to maintain infrastructure all over South Africa to prevent similar incidents.
The DA in PE has asked for an urgent meeting to discuss what needs to be done, but it remains to be seen if the chairperson of the portfolio committee on Local Government, Xolile Nqatha, will wake up and listen. At least the Executive Director of Infrastructure and Engineering and his associated staff who deals with water issues should report to the committee and explain what happened that caused this incident.
If this happens in PE, it can happen anywhere in SA.
If it is found that there has been negligence in the water department in the municipality, then heads must roll and officials sacked, says the DA. They are right, but can their complaining make a difference? That is the question.
The water crisis has a knock-on effect on economic development. It affects growth and job creation.
Don’t know how many expats from South Africa have been reading or hearing about the residents of Port Elizabeth who had to go through the weekend without running water. Apparently it’s been chaos with shopping centre’s even renting portable toilets to put in their parking areas.
It’s really been a k*kspul, the local are saying. Some of the buildings were stinking so much it had to be abandoned. Shops ran out of bottled water.
Unfortunately this is not an isolated bugger-up, but symptomatic of negligence on the part of municipalities who cannot maintain infrastructure.
What happened in PE is that crumbling infrastructure led to the water shortages. This cannot be left unchallenged. Furthermore, adequate funding must be found to maintain infrastructure all over South Africa to prevent similar incidents.
The DA in PE has asked for an urgent meeting to discuss what needs to be done, but it remains to be seen of Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Xolile Nqatha, will wake up and listen. At least the Executive Director of Infrastructure and Engineering and his associated staff who deals with water issues should report to the committee and explain what happened that caused this incident.
If this happens in PE, it can happen anywhere in SA.
If it is found that there has been negligence in the water department in the municipality, then heads must roll and officials sacked, says the DA. They are right, but can their complaining make a difference? That is the question.
The water crisis has a knock-on effect on conomic development. It affects growth and job creation.
