The DA in uThukela District condemns the illegal protest that started early on Wednesday where the community closed off the R74 alternative route to the N3 Van Reenen Pass, causing great disruption not only to local agriculture and commerce but also to tourists who use this arterial road to access the Okhahlamba Unesco Drakensberg Park.
The DA had on Monday, 13 March 2023 alerted the Municipal Manager, Bongani Mnguni, that the Woodford Community outside Bergville was planning to mobilise following a week long water outage.
The municipality did not heed our call. Inaction and paralysis have become the characteristic of this IFP-run district as the region veers from one water crisis to the next. They have done little to nothing to turn this municipality around. Not only does it seem that they lack any solutions, but now, after 12 months in the seat, they seem to have decided to just sit in ivory towers while one tap after another runs dry.
Residents of uThukela can only cast their gaze to the nearby uMngeni Municipality where DA leadership create incremental but progressive steps every day.
The DA will continue to put pressure on the IFP-run uThukela until there is a resolve to the water crisis.