The Democratic Alliance (DA) is using the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to try to establish whether the death of 140 children in Ukhahlamba in Eastern Cape was directly related to contaminated water supplies [1].

The DA’s approach to the water affairs department to obtain information follows the deaths earlier this year as well as numerous reports indicating that water quality in some municipalities is increasingly below standard. Water Affairs Minister Lindiwe Hendricks has repeatedly given the assurance that water quality is monitored and where problems occur they are rectified”.

[1] Related news: South Africa: Minister to take over municipal water supply, country shocked by infant deaths, Source Weekly, 10 Jun 2008

Web site: the official DA statement

Source: Wyndham Hartley, Business Day (Johannesburg) / allAfrica.com, 03 Jul 2008

Tags: africa, policies & legislation, transparency