WaterCAN wants Lesedi mayor axed after two die in ongoing water protests

Staff Reporter

WaterCAN has called for Lesedi Local Municipality Mayor Mluleki Nkosi to resign after two people died during water-related protests in Ratanda, south of Heidelberg, saying the crisis was the result of municipal failure and required urgent provincial and national intervention.

The civic water rights organisation said on Saturday it was “deeply disturbed by confirmed reports that two people have died during water-related protests in Lesedi Local Municipality, where residents have been without water following the municipality’s failure to settle its debt to Rand Water”.

“This crisis, like so many others, did not start with the protests. It started when the municipality failed to manage its finances and failed to protect residents from the consequences of that failure,” said WaterCAN executive director Dr Ferrial Adam.

The protests have escalated sharply over the past week, as the community has been without potable water for almost two weeks. eNCA reported on