President Cyril Ramaphosa says the government is beginning to restore dignity to the residents of Hammanskraal after years of unreliable water supply.
He addressed the community during the launch of new water infrastructure projects on Nelson Mandela Day.
The area has faced a decade-long water crisis due to failing infrastructure and poor maintenance.
The president acknowledged that residents had every reason to lose confidence in the government’s ability to resolve the water crisis.
“We know that the situation has caused a lot of frustration, and disappointment, and hardship amongst our people. And we understand how many people also became skeptical, not believing for years, the government will be able to fulfill what we had said it would. And you’ve had every right to not believe in what the government said. But today, this represents progress.”
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Ramaphosa says South Africans should judge government by the services it delivers rather than its promises.
The government officially commissioned projects aimed at improving access to clean drinking water, including 67 decentralized water supply schemes.
Ramaphosa says the success of the project will ultimately be measured by whether residents have running water in their homes.
“The real measure of success will be when every household can open a water tap in their own homes, in their own yards. That is the real measure of success. Now, our responsibility as a government is not to ask you to celebrate promises. Our responsibility is to deliver results. Judge us not by today’s speeches or what the premier and the executive mayor have been saying. And what the minister has been saying. But by the water, we will make sure that continues to flow,” says Ramaphosa.
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