GroundUp reports that a government building housing several departments, including the Louis Trichardt Clinic, has been without a consistent water supply for two years.

The water outage affects the entire government building, which also houses Home Affairs, Social Development, Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries, Employment & Labour (DEL) and the Magistrate’s Court. The clinic serves hundreds of patients daily. The building is owned by Public Works. The Public Servants Association (PSA) has condemned the water shortage as a health hazard. The Vhembe District Municipality initially supplied water tankers to the area, but this no longer takes place. Now people in the building have to collect water in buckets from adjacent buildings. Without running water, staff and patients are often seen carrying buckets to flush toilets. According to a patient at the clinic, those who can afford to, pay R3 to use a public toilet.

The PSA’s Lawrence Muvhango said the union has asked the DEL to intervene, as the situation “violates occupational health and safety laws”. If nothing is done within 60 days, the union intends to escalate the matter to the Office of the Premier and the Minister of Water and Sanitation. Municipal spokesperson Moses Shibambu said the issue could only be resolved when three new boreholes were operational. According to the contractor, the boreholes were to have been completed by last Thursday, but by Friday morning the water had still not been restored.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thembi Siaga at GroundUp

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