No water: Zille ‘to blame’

PREMIER Helen Zille should be blamed for the waters crisis plaguing the province, the ANC charged yesterday.

The party wants an urgent legislature sitting to discuss the manner in which Zille is handling the City’s water woes and whether she should not leave office.

Yesterday acting provincial chairperson Khaya Magaxa blamed Zille for the water crisis plaguing the province, saying she was the root cause of the problem.

“She might just be called to task to deal with the matters she brushed aside when she was the mayor of Cape Town or DA failure. The ANC will take up the matter in the provincial legislature to drill down to the core of this matter,” he added.

Magaxa said that under Zille’s administration, the DA had failed to properly and prudently invest in potable water supply infrastructure and manage water better.

Former Health MEC Theuns Botha has criticised the manner in which the water crisis is being handled by City. He said it revealed a crisis in the governance of Cape Town. He charged that the appointment of Cape Town’s deputy mayor Ian Neilson on the water team will prove to be a disaster at the end.

Meanwhile, Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane said Cape Town can defeat Day Zero by changing its behaviour towards water usage.

“Day Zero can be avoided if all of us can be positive, move beyond politics and if all of us appreciate that the realities of climate change are upon us. We need every idea and every innovation,” she said.

Mokonyane was speaking on the national government’s plans to avoid #DayZero, a day when taps will run dry and residents will be expected to collect water from designated pick-up points.