The residents have now lodged a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).

The acting provincial manager of the SAHRC, Anthony Wyngaard, said they were following up on complaints they already had against the municipality.

“In addition to these complaints, we have now learned that the community has been without water for more than three weeks. This is as a result of the equipment extracting water from the Vaal River being damaged during flooding,” he said.

The commission is set to engage the municipality, the Department of Water and Sanitation, and the Department of Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements, and Traditional Affairs (Coghsta).

The spokesperson for Coghsta, Babalwa Mzambo, said a follow-up meeting would be held in Warrenton this week in response to a memorandum that was handed over by the community members.

Residents have been using wheelbarrows and water containers to fetch and collect water across the busy N12 road. This dangerous road-crossing has resulted in an accident where a woman and her 11-year-old daughter were hospitalised after a car hit them while they were going to fetch water. 

Some residents complained that the borehole water was making their skin itchy, it is dirty and it makes them sick. Others said that there weren't enough trucks bringing water to the community.

On February 28, angry citizens tossed their uncollected rubbish inside the municipality's premises in protest of the water problem and the lack of service delivery.

The Magareng Municipal spokesperson, Thapelo Jacobs, said they are working around the clock to restore the water supply. “The municipality has organised and procured water trucks that are currently providing water to the residents. That is the current status quo. We are hoping that the issue of water trucks will be a temporary arrangement up until the [supply] pipe has been fixed.”

OFM News