The water and electricity crisis is expected to continue in Rustenburg as municipal vehicles that are used to respond to basic service delivery needs like repairing of water and sewage leaks, electricity blackouts and refuse collection, have run out of fuel.
Taps in several townships including Tlhabane, Geelhout-Park and Boitekong among others are often dry, forcing residents to buy bottled water for cooking and for personal hygiene while others have to throw spoiled food away.
Municipal service vehicles without petrol will make it difficult for the technicians and other workers to deal with emergency needs of the Rustenburg community.
Responding to Newsnote’s inquiry, the municipality said in a statement the refuelling of the vehicles was suspended due to a technical glitch. The restoration to its fully automatic mode took longer than anticipated, the statement said.
Rustenburg is one of the municipalities reported at the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) for failing to deliver services to the people.
Newsnote has learnt that the local SAHRC is investigating about 19 complaints relating to poor service delivery against the municipality since the beginning of this year. The Commission received complaints ranging from lack of access to water and sewage spillage among others.
The SAHRC told Newsnote that the investigations are at various stages and the finalisation of most of them have been delayed due to non-responsiveness from the municipality which may be caused by the ever-changing faces of the administration.
DA councillor Luan Snyders said they will write to the Acting Municipal Manager Radinaledi Mosiane and Mayor Sheila Mabale-Huma urging them to take urgent steps to address the fuel shortage and present it to Council at the next sitting.