The residents of Blyvooruitzicht mine in Merafong will rejoice this afternoon as water will be restored once the technicians complete final repairs to pipes and valves that were vandalised during the water cut off period. COGTA MEC Jacob Mamabolo and Merafong Executive Mayor Maphefo Mogale-Letsie assured residents today during a visit to the area that the deadline of reconnecting water on 15 June will be met.
The two leaders and ward councilors did a walk-about to the actual sites of repairs to enquire on the progress made. “We have interacted with the manager on site and we are pleased to announce that we will indeed keep our commitment of ensuring that by the end of today all the residents concerned will have access to piped water,” MEC Mamabolo said.
Mamabolo said that there are two opposite sites in the mine that need to be dealt with and the challenge was that the valves were stolen, which created the delay. “However we received confirmation that the issue is being resolved and work will be completed by 15H00 and 16H00 respectively. This means we can safely make a recommitment that by this afternoon the work will be completed and water will be supplied to the mine,” MEC Mamabolo confirmed.
The MEC’s visit today follows the signing of the Declaration of Intent last Thursday in an urgent meeting between Merafong Local Municipality, Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Human Rights Commission, Lawyers for Human Rights and Liquidators of Blyvooruitzicht mines. MEC Jacob Mamabolo’s visit was to ensure the implementation of that agreement
Part of the agreement between all parties concerned was that the liquidators pay a sum of R600 000 by Friday the 12th June towards the debt owed to Merafong Local Municipality to ensure the water in the area is reconnected and the residents in the mining area get access to water. The municipality had cut the water supply to the mine a month ago following failure by the liquidators to pay R4m monthly fee to keep the service running. According to the Declaration of Intent signed, the water supply was to be reconnected by no later than today, 15th June following the payment by the liquidators.
“We are happy to announce that the money promised by the liquidators was paid in on Friday as agreed. We are here as government to ensure water is being reconnected as per the agreement,” MEC Mamabolo mentioned adding that it is all systems go from Rand Water and Government to reconnect the water supply.
MEC Mamabolo however mentioned that there was a challenge of a sink hole that delayed the process. “The matter is classified as a disaster and is already reported to the Provincial Disaster Management Centre. We are pleased to announce that the team is on site to investigate the cause. The municipality has activated another pipe line to supply water to greater Carletonville and it is operational now”, MEC Mamabolo said.
MEC Mamabolo mentioned that the difficulty that faces government is that closure of mines leaves a humanitarian problem on government hands and “we cannot just let things slide; we have to intervene. We are glad that the liquidators of this particular mine kept their promise. We need to put our residents first and ensure their rights to basic services are not infringed. We as government have made a commitment to work with these liquidators to ensure this issue of water cut does not happen again. We will monitor the situation and ensure everything is still on track,” MEC concluded.
Enquiries:
Motsamai Motlhaolwa
Tel: 011 355 4873
Cell: 079 897 2240
