The water crisis in the province has recently worsened, reaching a severe state that has led the DA in KZN to call on the Human Rights Commission to step in.
The DA evaluated the issue at hand and recognized that nothing was done in the circumstances that residents found themselves in, which was far beyond a crisis.
Mbali Ntuli, a spokesperson for the KZN co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) spokesperson, reported an issue surrounding the non-delivery of adequate water to residents. The fact that the government hadn’t addressed the crisis yet was also highlighted, and by not doing so, has denied residents of their constitutional rights.
The issue has taken a turn for the worst and can no longer be avoided by those in charge of ensuring that all basic human rights of South African citizens are met.
Water Scarcity Isn’t Just a Result of Drought
Looking at the bigger picture, even though a lack of rainfall has contributed to bad cases of drought in KZN, the municipality is mostly to blame for not managing the issue when it first originated. They failed to deliver proper water and sanitation services to residents, which was due to a lack of maintenance, a lack of planning, the non-provision of water tankers, as well as poor management and what seems to be a very strong disregard to provide basic services to residents.
Water issues have persisted for a long time in the area and haven’t been addressed in years. Meanwhile, the DA also warned both the local council and provincial channels and called on the Cogta MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube to tackle the issue, all of which didn’t amount to any intervention whatsoever. The DA are continuing to put pressure on the SAHRC to step in.
