The DA leader in the province, Patricia Kopane, in reaction to these protests says the residents have the government they voted for and the ongoing protests are not solutions. She says people had an opportunity on 8 May during national elections to vote the government that would serve them but it’s unfortunate that the people of the Free State did not use their vote to root out corruption and fraud.

This week, disgruntled taxi operators in Bloemfontein brought chaos to the streets of the city centre, protesting against the Interstate Bus Lines and on Wednesday residents halted the road construction over the controversial IPTN project due to the alleged lack of transparency and work opportunities for the youth.

Kopane was speaking on the sidelines of a media briefing by the DA national leader, Mmusi Maimane, who was in Bloemfontein to address the allegations that R35 million has been spent to have the Naval Hill Reservoir up and running but it has since been non-operational while residents from time to time have no water.

Maimane says it cannot be that residents continue to bear the brunt with regard to the matter and yet there are no consequences to officials.

DA ward 25 councillor Rossouw Botes also says following the recent case between the Bloem Water Board and Mangaung Metro Municipality (MMM) this month, residents of the metro faces another threat of water-shedding by Bloem Water because the metro cannot pay its debt of millions to the entity.

He says he doesn’t foresee the metro paying the R419 million owed to the water board in 30 days, as requested by the entity in a recent letter sent just a day after a court case in the High Court earlier in July 2019.

He says the entity has threatened to cut the water on the 17 august 2019 days reducing the water supply to the outlet of 30%.

Botes says high-lying areas such as Pellissier, Fichardt Park and Universitas will experience water problems within hours because there will not be sufficient water pressure.

Botes says the residents in these low-lying areas will eventually find themselves in the same predicament that will be faced by those in high-lying areas.

OFM News