Cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Madala Masuku has assured the residents of Carolina, Selobela and surrounding areas that the water supply is fit for human consumption.

This comes after Masuku visited the Chief Albert Luthuli local municipality in Carolina and tasted the water last Thursday. The significance of his visit was to assess progress made in addressing water challenges faced by the municipality.

Masuku said he was thrilled because there was significant progress in addressing the water contamination challenges that were experienced by residents. “We are satisfied with the interventions to upgrade the Carolina water treatment plant and that the water is safe to drink,” said Masuku.

Masuku said his department would continue to work with the municipality and the Department of Water Affairs to ensure the quality of water was sustained to ensure that residents continued to receive clean, potable water.

“All the metals are now within the acceptable standard limits as per the South African National Standards for potable water.

“The municipality has not experienced any challenges in terms of microbiological quality failures in Carolina.

“These tests are carried out on a monthly basis. The tests indicate that the water quality is now an acceptable standard,” said Masuku.

The MEC was accompanied by the executive mayors for Gert Sibande district municipality, Meshack Nhlabathi and Busisiwe Shiba of Chief Albert Luthuli as well as officials from the Department of Water Affairs who also drank the water.

A few weeks ago, The New Age reported that the disgruntled residents dragged the Gert Sibande district municipality to the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria after spending six months without water.

We reported that according to the residents, both children and adults were compelled to walk long distances to collect drinking water from JoJo tanks.

The purification plant could only cater for 3.5 megalitres of water a day while the demand was between five and six megalitres.

The North Gauteng High Court thereafter ruled that the Gert Sibande district municipality should provide sufficient potable water to residents of Carolina and surrounding areas within a week.

Source: thenewage