The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK Party) has accused the City of Johannesburg of mismanagement, saying the city’s water shortages are a result of political failure rather than lack of supply.
MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said this after an oversight visit to the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.
He said the visit proved that the water shortages facing residents are not caused by scarcity but by distribution failure.
Lesotho Highlands Water project visit
“Following an oversight visit to the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, the MK Party can confirm that the system is operating at full capacity. Contrary to the excuses peddled by municipal officials, water is indeed flowing at a rate of 20 000 litres per second via the Vaal River system into Gauteng. The infrastructure’s maintenance is complete and the supply is stable,” Ndhlela said.
“What they found confirms what communities already know. Johannesburg is not a victim of water scarcity but of political negligence. There is no water shortage. There is, however, a shameful collapse in water distribution. That is caused entirely by the incompetence and mismanagement of the Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. This is purely political failure,” he added.
According to Ndhlela, the crisis is part of a bigger problem linked to the government of national unity (GNU). He said it’s a coalition of self-serving elites with no political will or capacity to govern.
He further said the government has been absent for its people. And this resulted in infrastructure, water and electricity to crumble.
Political meddling
“The DA-led so-called GNU is shamelessly politicising the ongoing water crisis and the basic rights of our people in order to secure political favours and barter for positions. Most notably the mayorship of the City of Johannesburg,” Ndhlela said.
“The MK Party demands immediate accountability from those responsible for this engineered crisis and gross failure to provide a basic and constitutionally enshrined human right. Our people are not asking for favours, they are demanding what is rightfully owed to them,” he added.
