Greater Letaba Municipality GLM spokesperson, Lovers Maenetja, acknowledged that they are experiencing challenges in the water supply to both Modjadjiskloof and Kgapane. "This has been caused by a strain at the Politsi water plant due to an upgrade between the plant and Modjadjiskloof," she says. Maenetja referred to an ongoing court case between the national Department of Water and Sanitation and the Tzaneen Irrigation Board that is also impacting the availability of water to Modjadjiskloof. "The municipality met with the Lepelle Northern Water and the Mopani District Municipality MDM , the water authority, to come up with an urgent intervention. We will try and maintain the standing agreement reached which will allow the flow of water to residents on a daytoday basis," she says. According to her, the water supply will not be consistent as pipe bursts and other challenges still need to be dealt with. "We urge residents to bear with us. We want to take this opportunity to apologise to residents and assure them that we will always do our best to provide services to the best of our ability," she says. According to a report on the efficacy of water authorities by the South African Human Rights Commission SAHRC , the commission received several complaints relating to the challenges of sufficient water access in the MDM area. "MDM is a droughtstricken municipality and we acknowledge that the municipality has challenges," Wisani Baloyi, SAHRC acting communications manager said. She said that despite putting tankering in place, communities under its jurisdiction are still without water. "The commission recommended that the MDM must install a sufficient number of water user connections to supply a minimum quantity of potable water of 25 litres per person per day or 6 kiloliters per household per month to the residents of the municipality; at a minimum flow rate of not less than 10 litres per minute; within 200 meters of each of the residents' households; and that the residents are not without a water supply for more than seven full days in any year," she said. MDM was ordered by the commission to provide a detailed plan with timeframes on how the municipality will provide water to every resident within its jurisdiction in line with the Water Services Act.

Source: Letaba Herald