SOWETAN SAYS | Stop excuses over infrastructure

Water and sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina has been riding roughshod lately, lashing out at infrastructure neglect, and bad and illegal water consumption habits. Both factors point an accusing finger at the state.

Unlawful habits around water usage need law enforcement to deal with to uphold order. Metro police officers, who are municipal law enforcers, more often don’t think much about driving past people interfering with water infrastructure. Their work, in essence, follows the rhythm of their political principals.

That's why when their bosses picked on Majodina’s call on Monday to stop illegal connections, the metro officers moved into Phumlamqhashi informal settlement yesterday. The residents here had been using illegal connections for their water supply for the past six years. But the clearly rushed operation by the City of Johannesburg fell flat when the residents pushed the police back.

Water is a key human right, and delays by authorities to make lasting decisions lead to resistence, as was the case with Phumlamqhashi residents yesterday. Had the city decided on the future of the informal settlement, a planned provision of water would have been achieved by now. Illegal connections do not only deny the city’s paying clients uninterrupted water supply but also cost millions of rand through leaks. 

Majodina is right; a lack of infrastructure maintenance is a major contributor to poor service delivery. In some instances, water ends up not being delivered because waterworks systems are dysfunctional, something that does not happen overnight. 

The lack of urgency towards caring for public infrastructure in Gauteng, and other parts of SA, is widespread. Also affected are the roads, street lights and traffic lights. The damage to these infrastructures is caused by criminality, wear and tear and accidents. However, it should not matter how any damage occurs. The authorities need to have a visible programme to repair, and effect arrests in cases of criminality. 

Let there be no more excuses, such as “we are dealing with ageing infrastructure”. We need to embrace the culture of fixing and upgrading, and punishing those who cut off the traffic lights and street lights for copper. These crimes take place along public roads that should be watched over with police patrols.

Those in charge must account for neglect in their areas of responsibility or leave. 

SowetanLIVE