Gauteng water crisis denied

9/26/14 A pregnant woman is seen drinking water from an open burst pipe while others wash their laundry.The municipality water tanks is not provided for the Makuasi community so desperation lead to people temporarily using due to lack of water in areas around Primrose east of Johannesburg. Picture:Paballo Thekiso

9/26/14 A pregnant woman is seen drinking water from an open burst pipe while others wash their laundry.The municipality water tanks is not provided for the Makuasi community so desperation lead to people temporarily using due to lack of water in areas around Primrose east of Johannesburg. Picture:Paballo Thekiso

Published Sep 28, 2014

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Johannesburg - There is no water crisis in Gauteng, chairman of the portfolio committee on water and sanitation, Mlungisi Johnson, said on Saturday.

“There is no water crisis in Gauteng and people must know that they will from now on get water,” he said in a statement.

He said the portfolio committee also welcomed the establishment of a joint operations committee.

“ 1/8This will 3/8 ensure a co-ordinated effort to deal with the water shortages in Gauteng.”

Johnson said he was satisfied that Rand Water had implemented effective strategies to deal with the water shortages.

Water levels in reservoirs were stabilising, he said.

A collaborative effort needed to be made in order to deal with vandalism and the theft of copper, valves and cables, that were integral in supplying water.

The portfolio committee visited Rand Water on Friday in order to gain an understanding of and find solutions to the water shortages experienced in Gauteng.

Gauteng has been hit by a water shortage Ä allegedly due to a theft of electrical cables that are needed for the reservoirs to pump water.

The shortage has affected parts of Ekurhuleni, the West Rand, Johannesburg and Tshwane.

On Saturday, Rand Water said that water should be restored to all parts of Gauteng within two weeks.

However, it added that the meeting of this deadline could be compromised by possible power outages.

“Two weeks is a reasonable time for reservoirs to be stabilised,” spokesman Justice Mohale said.

“Two weeks should be sufficient if there are no unexpected power outages.”

Sapa

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