According to a media statement issued by the Matjhabeng Local Municipality, their bulk water supplier, Bloem Water, experienced a chlorine leak on the night of 1 November 2022. Bloem Water’s Operations and Maintenance Manager, Maruping Rapudungoane, confirms that due to the leak, they had to stop operations at the Balkfontein Water Plant. Bloem Water’s team started to repair the leak on Wednesday morning. 

According to the latest information, the leak has been repaired and water will start to be pumped into Riebeeckstad’s reservoirs, as it was left empty due to the leak. Those who were affected can expect to receive water by late afternoon.  

ALSO READ: Fight for quality water provision in Free State continues

Meanwhile, the opposition of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), continues to fight for quality water provision for the Free State community. The party has previously handed over a memorandum containing a list of water-related challenges and possible solutions, but they feel there has not been a sound reply to their concerns. 

In a written answer from the office of the Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, it is stated that the Office of the Premier has informed the DA Councillor, Rossouw Botes, that the issue of water provision will be regarded as resolved on the Presidential Hotline System – a system which deals with all service delivery related issues. However, it is raised in the written answer that the Presidency will investigate the issue of non-payment by the municipality to Bloem Water, as non-payment may lead to water interruptions.  

Botes said according to the Constitution, everyone in the country has the right to clean water. If the people of the province do not get water at all, the provincial government would have violated the Constitution. Their plea at the moment is that the people of the Free State get quality water that is not interrupted, as it is their (the community's) right. “For the first time in a long time, we are sitting with full dams that provide water to Mangaung, however, some areas still do not have water or they remain without clean water,” he adds.

ALSO READ: List of water-related challenges, solutions handed over

The memorandum in question was accepted by the Chief of Staff in the Premier’s Office, Manko Buffel, as the provincial Premier, Sisi Ntombela, was at a Jagersfontein media briefing at the time. Buffel stated she is confident that Ntombela and the Executive Committee will go over the memorandum and reply soon. At the handover of the memorandum, the DA’s provincial leader, Roy Jankielsohn, explained that one of the reasons for the unsafe water that residents in the province consume is the raw sewage that runs into streams, rivers, through fields, yards and the streets of residents.

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