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BARRYDALE RESIDENTS ARRESTED FOR DEMANDING THEIR RIGHT TO WATER

On Thursday 12th March, a group of residents from Barrydale appeared in court for protesting against electricity and water cut-offs.  This follows after 300 residents staged a peaceful march on Friday 27th February and presented a memorandum of demands to the Barrydale municipal manager, Walter Hendricks. In the memorandum, the residents demanded an immediate resumption of water services and a meeting with both the mayor and the MEC of local government to address poor service delivery. The residents are particularly frustrated with the estimated billing system, and are calling for an investigation into vast discrepancies in the quantity of water they use and the amount which they are currently being billed for.

Upon receiving the memorandum, Hendricks stated that he had instructed the municipal offices to reinstate their water and electricity supply with immediate effect. By late Friday afternoon, concerned that they were still without water and power, forty residents returned to the municipal office. An altercation broke out between them and municipal officials who were closing their offices for the weekend, and subsequently, 17 women and 11 men were arrested. The women were held overnight in Swellendam, 50km away and the men were detained in Montague, a further 65km from Barrydale by South African Police Services (SAPS) without being informed of what they were being charged for.

Ironically, the group of Barrydale residents demanding their right to water enshrined in the constitution, appeared in court today, just ten days before World Water Day on 22nd March, an international day of observance and action to draw attention to the plight of the more than 1 billion people worldwide that lack access to clean, safe drinking water.

The case has been postponed until April. For further details, contact Henry Michaels (079 936 7488), Amanda Swartz (073 464 2040) or Siviwe Mdoda (082 368 5096).