Attention to:

• Executive Mayor of Thaba Chweu Local Municipality
• Municipal Manager, Thaba Chweu Local Municipality
• Mpumalanga MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs
• South African Human Rights Commission
• Eskom

We, the undersigned residents of Mashishing (Lydenburg) and other areas in Thaba Chweu Local Municipality, demand an immediate end to the frequent, prolonged electricity and water outages that violate our constitutional rights to basic services, dignity, and access to water.

These chronic disruptions—often lasting hours or days—stem from poor infrastructure maintenance, mismanagement, and failures to pay suppliers like Eskom. They cause severe hardship:

• Residents lose expensive food supplies, especially meat, which spoils in fridges/freezers during outages.
• Pensioners often lose a full month's groceries and cannot afford replacements, leading to hunger.
• Parents cannot bath children before school, forcing kids to attend unclean and risking their health and dignity.
• Workers in physical labour return home exhausted and unable to bath after long days, causing discomfort and hygiene issues.
• Families cannot cook meals, prepare lunches for the next day, or even boil water safely.

These outages are not isolated—they are ongoing and unacceptable. We demand:

• Immediate restoration of reliable electricity and water supply through urgent infrastructure repairs and fixes to bulk supply issues.
• Transparent outage notifications, emergency support (e.g., water tankers), and compensation for losses like spoiled food.
• Priority free basic services for vulnerable groups (pensioners, children).
• Full investigation into root causes, including debt and mismanagement, with public updates.

Basic services are a right, not a luxury. Act now to stop the suffering and restore trust.

Signed by concerned residents of Thaba Chweu Municipality