The Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, has expressed her concern over municipalities who continue to cut off water supply to their residents.

This even comes the ministers recent call to make water available to fight COVID-19.

Last weekend the Minister called on all the municipalities to make water available to their residents to enable them to wash hands regularly.

This is in line with the government’s call to all South Africans to wash their hands frequently with water and soap and to sanitise to minimize the spread of the Coronavirus.

The Minister made her appeal after thousands of frantic callers to the Call Centre of the Department of Water and Sanitation complained of being cut off. Most of the complaints were from Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, North West and Gauteng.

Despite the Minister’s instruction, the department’s Call Centre continues to receive calls from citizens who complain about being cut off, especially by the City of Cape Town Council..

In other provinces residents complained about being randomly cut off without any communication by their municipalities. This, they say, has left them vulnerable to the rampant pandemic that has claimed 27 lives and infected just over 2 272 South Africans in its wake.

Access to water has become key to fighting the scourge and to this end, the department has embarked on a countrywide rollout to distribute jojo tanks among destitute communities.

However, while the distribution is successful, callers complain of local authorities, including some Councillors and Mayors who simply ignore their pleas to be given water tanks.

Minister Sisulu has renewed her call to the municipalities and warned them that their heavy-handed approach violated the letter and spirit of the Constitution and the government’s call for residents to wash hands frequently.

“The defiant authorities have chosen a wrong time to punish residents who can’t afford their
bills, “ said the Minister