Numerous residents of JB Marks in North West have been cautioned about plans for 12 to 13 hours of watershedding.

The Potchefstroom-based JB Marks Municipality said residents would be affected by the planned maintenance of the Ventersdorp Road water pump.  The maintenance is set to be implemented on Sunday from 06:00 to 18:00.  

Spokesperson Jeanette Tshite said five areas and all extensions in Ikageng will be affected by this maintenance. The planned maintenance is to avoid water shortage. 

The maintenance is set to be implemented on Sunday from 06:00 to 18:00.  

The following areas are scheduled to be affected : 

• Dassierand
• Army Base/ SANDF 
• Promosa
• Mohadin
• Zakhele
• All Extensions of Ikageng

“We advise everyone residing in the impacted areas, to gather enough water to endure through the maintenance work. The scheduled maintenance is done to tackle the problem of water scarcity."  

OFM News has previously written on several planned water pump maintenance across the municipality which at most led to the frustrations of residents. 

 These frustrations have also led to residents calling for the two merged Tlokwe and Ventersdorp Local Municipalities to be separated. 

They cited a lack of service delivery, financial constraints, fraud, and corruption. 

They said Tlokwe inherited the financial crises of Ventersdorp and this proves difficult for the municipality named after one of the ANC's struggle icons JB Marks to thrive and deliver better basic services to the people as envisaged in the local government legislative framework. 

Often this frustration lead to violent protest with residents taking to the streets to air their anger and unhappiness with how things are done at the ANC-led municipality. 

The FF Plus councillor Pieter Steyn has lambasted the closure of municipal offices in Ventersdorp. He said this was due to a lack of maintenance and mismanagement. 

His statement comes after the Department of Labour closed one of the municipal buildings in Ventersdorp and declared it unsafe.

"A notice to this effect has been affixed to the building. A long-standing lack of maintenance led to the building's roof decaying to such an extent that the ceilings began to cave in due to water damage. The entire building is in a dilapidated state despite repeated warnings by the FF Plus and community members that the premises have become unsafe for the public and employees. This notification also follows after the municipal council already in March this year allocated R7 million for the urgent repair of the municipal buildings in Ventersdorp."  

OFM News