originally posted on February 06, 2017

The community of Westhoek, in the Elundini Local Municipality, is forced to walk three kilometres every day to access drinking water, which is nothing more than a river, which horses and cattle drink from too, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Eastern Cape said on Monday.

“This is a tragic reality for an entire community, at the hands of an uncaring ANC government, denying them access to running water,” said Kekeletso Mahlelebe, a DA Councillor in  the Elundini Local Municipality.

“African National Congress (ANC) promises before every election, to provide water, are always broken and expose the ANC as a party of broken promises.

“The community does not just lack running water; but electricity and safe roads, a community hall, as well as basic recreational opportunities that other villages have.”

Mahlelebe added that “competent and caring” councillors are central to making municipalities work, “but ANC Councillors in this area are nowhere to be seen – in fact, the ANC councillor has not visited the community since the 2016 elections”.

She said that the DA will therefore write to Eastern Cape MECs of Health, Cooperate Governance and Traditional Affairs, Transport, Safety and Liaison, Pumza Dyantyi, Fikile Xasa, and Weziwe Tikana respectively, to visit the community urgently, and direct the Elundini Municipality to address this dire situation.

“The DA will keep working towards protecting the dignity of all South Africans and allow them to live the lives they deserve.

“We expect that the Eastern Cape provincial government will step in where the local municipality has dismally failed,” said Mahlelebe.