KEETMANSHOOP – Communal farmers from the //Kharas region on Tuesday handed over a petition to the regional council chairperson Gerrit Witbooi, requesting him to urgently address the ongoing water crisis affecting them. 

Spokesperson Erich Mathys, when reading out the petition said farmers in areas such as Poortjie, Bloemhof-Blouwes, Aubkhaus, Groendoring, Bethanie – area, Kameelrivier, Itsawisis, Lekkerwater, Vals, Aritities East and some others have endured severe water shortages due to broken windmills, dry boreholes, rusted pipes and delayed water infrastructure repairs/maintenance. 

“Windmill-and-solar pump breakdowns left unattended for weeks or months forced communities to rely on costly water trucking at intervals of up to two weeks,” he said. 

The document further stated that “Insufficient service delivery capacity, lack of rural water supply trucks, with only one covering vast distances, not enough manpower, materials standing idle at offices and restrictions on farmers to carry out minor repairs had devastating consequences on families who cannot access drinking water as well as for their livestock and further threatens food security and self-sustainability.” 

The concerned group further demanded the deployment of additional service teams and vehicles to address breakdowns promptly, installation/repair/ maintenance of solar pumps at existing boreholes, cleaning and rehabilitation of unused boreholes, distribution of plastic water tanks to needy households and transparent communication from the regional office on timelines and progress for repairs. 

Witbooi, after receiving the petition, promised to take the group’s challenges up with the relevant stakeholders in order to address it within the stipulated time frame.