The Madibeng municipality in the North West, which has been hit by protests over water delivery is dysfunctional, says Trevor Manual, minister in the presidency.
“I’m saying what my observation – that the local authority is dysfunctional. It doesn’t understand that if you lay the pipes you must get water to people. It fails to understand what its core mandate is,” he said. “The developmental side and the capability side have been brought into very sharp question in that metro.” He was speaking at Stellenbosch University’s Theological Day, where he gave an address on the function of the National Development Plan (NDP). He said the NDP required both a developmental state and a capable state. In the context of Madibeng, the developmental side had been upheld in that the bulk water supply, the pump stations and the purification plant were in place. Bill of rights “upheld” Manuel said the bill of rights had been upheld in that people had access to free, basic water within a limited distance from their house. “The capability side is a slightly different question. It ensures that water flows through the taps and when you open it, it’s available in your house.
“In the instance of the [Madibeng] mayor it seems as though either he didn’t know that three pumps were out of order, or they were beneficiaries of the water tankers that were running where the pumps weren’t working.”
Manuel said a society with that reality meant every part of the social compact was broken. “I’m saying you can’t be a little bit corrupt,” he said, in reference to an earlier remark of not being able to be “a little bit pregnant”. Three people died and one was fatally wounded on January 13, during protests about water services in Mothutlung in the province. North West Premier Thandi Modise subsequently asked residents to give its R2bn water project a chance before staging violent protests. The plan includes bulk infrastructure upgrades and borehole refurbishments to meet the basic demand of 60 litres of water per person per day. Source: www.news24.com
