ActionSA President, Mr Herman Mashaba, visited the Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Plant near Hammanskraal on the 11th of March 2021, to reveal the continued failure of the City of Tshwane to address the water crisis for the people of Hammanskraal and surrounding communities.
Mr Mashaba was joined by members of the Hammanskraal community as well as representatives from nearby farms, both of whom are severely impacted by the failure to address this problem.
“I grew up in Hammanskraal, and I am furious that this Tshwane coalition government has provided poorer water quality that I grew up with under Apartheid” he said.
Mr Mashaba said the nearby farming community are experiencing silting of the waterways and contamination of the borehole water due to the rising levels of contamination. With the pressures on agriculture already, the continuation of this crisis is threatening the livelihoods of these farms.
“Former Mayor Solly Msimanga campaigned on the promise to fix the water problem and even laid the complaint at the SAHRC that led to the investigation. Former Mayor Stevens Mokgalapa drank the water once as a PR stunt to contest the view that the water quality was problematic and the current Mayor, Randall Williams, is silent on this issue and most others for that matter,” he said.
Mr Mashaba said ActionSA will be holding its own public hearings with the affected residents of Hammanskraal and surrounding communities. These hearings will call on City of Tshwane and Provincial Government officials to appear to account.
“Tshwane is a demonstration that neither the ANC nor the DA have proven to serve the residents of Tshwane. This is why ActionSA is dedicated to contesting Tshwane and forming the core of an alternative government that will serve the residents of Tshwane and resolve the Hammanskraal water crisis with the urgency it deserves” he said.
