On Tuesday, residents of South Africa’s second-largest township woke up to a widespread water outage. Several schools in Mdantsane were forced to send pupils home, while assessments and the writing of exams were disrupted.
Small businesses, which are part of the lifeblood of the struggling economy, particularly in an underdeveloped province such as ours, were forced to temporarily close their doors, losing much-needed sales.
The outage hit the Cecilia Makiwane Hospital, though it has a backup supply and was able to continue assisting patients.
The chaos, which also affected Ntabozuko (Berlin), Debe Nek, Keiskammahoek and surrounding areas, was seemingly triggered by Amatola Water Board workers, who embarked on industrial action.
The board issued a statement confirming the water disruptions, but workers strongly denied that industrial action was the cause.
The water authority, which supplies parts of the Buffalo City Metro and Amathole District Municipality, has been in turmoil in recent months with its chief executive, Siyabulela Koyo, on suspension pending an investigation.
The authority has an interim board and last week matters escalated when former board chair Pam Yako sacked Koyo, prompting workers to launch the industrial action and demand a meeting with the entity’s leadership.
Details of the investigation into Koyo and the reasons for his “dismissal” have yet to be officially released, but the board and employees have since seemingly smoked the peace pipe.
Koyo returns to work on Thursday after water and sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina intervened.
Coincidentally, water was also restored to the affected communities just as the industrial action was called off.
Thousands of residents had been stripped of their constitutional right to water — and with the stroke of a pen and a single boardroom meeting, the standoff was resolved.
It is wrong that the lives of ordinary citizens are negatively affected by a clash of egos at entities such as Amatola Water.
People should not have to suffer as a result of petty politics between employer and employee.
Residents, some of whom pay exorbitant amounts for water, deserve better.
Majodina’s intervention should not end with the reinstatement of Koyo.
All those individuals who contributed to the water outages should be held accountable.
The minister should demand that workers who provide such an essential service face the music for going on strike, leaving vulnerable citizens at a risk.
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