A Northern Cape farmer has threatened to stop supplying water to Victoria West because the local municipality has not paid him, according to Sunday’s Rapport newspaper.

Andrew Conroy, owner of the farm Biesjiesfontein, claimed the Ubuntu municipality owed him R350,000 for supplying water to the town from his farm. The municipality had also failed to renew its 20-year contract with him when it expired in 2006. He had been supplying water to the town for nearly 30 years.

In an advert placed in the local newspaper, the Victoria West Messenger, on Friday, Conroy threatened to shut off the water supply on August 1 if he was not paid and his contract renewed.

“In the meantime he [Conroy] is keeping the pumps working and is paying for the electricity,” Kennett Sinclair, who represents the Northern Cape in the National Council of Provinces, told Rapport.

Municipal manager Martin Fillis said the municipality would not let itself be put under pressure.

“Conroy is not the only water source. This is a water-scarce area so we retain all the sources… Leave this matter between us and Conroy; I don’t have time for stone-throwing,” he was quoted as saying.

-Sapa