By Thapelo Molefe
South Africa’s water crisis has reached a breaking point, with President Cyril Ramaphosa declaring it a national emergency. But outside the venue, angry protesters accused him of more empty promises.
At the Water and Sanitation Indaba on Thursday, Ramaphosa admitted that the country’s water infrastructure was failing millions, but he insisted that the time for diagnosing problems was over.
“We know what the problem is,” he stated bluntly. “Now, we must fix it.”
Yet, as he spoke, members of Build One South Africa (BOSA) demonstrated outside, holding signs reading “End Watershedding Now!”. They demanded immediate action.
BOSA chief party officer Steven Mokgalapa called the indaba a “talk shop” and blasted the government for failing in its constitutional duty.
A visibly frustrated Ramaphosa slammed the sluggish pace of service delivery, particularly in addressing dangerous sanitation failures in schools.
“We have children dying in pit latrines! That must come
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