ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has hailed the milestone in Hammanskraal where residents finally have access to safe and clean water.
Image: Timothy Bernard/Independent Newspapers
ActionSA has praised the announcement that Hammanskraal residents can now safely consume water provided by Phase 1 of the Klipdrift Wastewater Treatment Plant emergency intervention project.
This achievement marks a significant step forward in addressing the long-standing water crisis that plagued the community for nearly two decades.
The project, a collaborative effort involving Magalies Water, the National Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), and the City of Tshwane, now ensures clean and drinkable water to residents in Marokolong, Ramotse, Kekana Gardens, Babelegi Industrial, and Mandela Village.
Future phases of the project aim to expand this access to additional communities in Hammanskraal.
Dr. Nasiphi Moya, Executive Mayor of Tshwane, underscored the significance of the achievement by publicly drinking water from Hammanskraal to demonstrate its safety.
ActionSA President Herman Mashaba expressed his personal connection to the milestone.
“I’m personally touched by this achievement. It is an emotional one for me because I grew up in Hammanskraal. It has been hard for me to observe failures by successive governments in Tshwane over 18 years to provide a constitutionally guaranteed basic service, clean potable water, to our people even after the end of apartheid.”
Mashaba attributed the success to the leadership of Mayor Moya and her multiparty Mayoral Committee. The current coalition includes the ANC, EFF, ActionSA, ACDP, ATM, DOP, PAC, PA, GOOD, and AIC.
He also lauded the collaboration with Magalies Water and support from provincial and national government bodies.
ActionSA has long advocated for the need for ethical, competent, and experienced leaders in government. According to Mashaba, this milestone represents the realisation of such leadership in Tshwane.
“This success by Mayor Moya and her team is the kind of thing that reminds me of the reason I said ‘Yes’ to entering politics, to ensure that one by one, the obstacles that sit between poor South African communities and a better life for all get taken away,” he said.
The journey to achieving clean water access in Hammanskraal has been fraught with challenges.
The community endured years of substandard and unsafe water, exacerbated by governance failures. The Klipdrift project’s success signals a new era of multiparty collaboration aimed at prioritising service delivery over political interests.
ActionSA called on other local governments to emulate this example, emphasising the importance of embracing multiparty collaboration to fast-track the realisation of constitutional rights.
“Today, I feel vindicated and even prouder to be South African,” Mashaba concluded.
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