Cape Town - Close to 1 000 residents in Factreton informal settlement in Kensington have been without water for the past five days after the City stopped delivering water in the area.
The area is home to former backyard dwellers who moved as a result of extreme overcrowding and settled next to the Wingfield military base.
Chairperson of the area Ilona Crouch said this was not the first time that the community had been without water.
“Before the pandemic we used to pay for water but the City came with the idea that it would distribute water due to Covid-19. I used to pay around R400 a week for water. Most of the people that stay here do not have families nearby where they can go get water, so if you don’t have money you don’t get water.
“The City is not even coming to us to explain what happened, we were just left here to suffer and since Monday people have been queueing here in front of my house for water. We even spoke to the ward councillor but there was no response. How can I tell people to not worry about getting Covid-19 if they don’t have water? We are not asking much, just running water because no one can survive without water,” she said.
“There has been no proper explanation, they are selling us different stories but they deliver to a neighbouring informal settlement to supply water to the refugees. The City is creating tensions between us and those people because they are treating us differently.
“Sometimes I have to lick my child’s hand clean. I have a daughter who is constantly asking me why I have to lick her hand because there is no water. How do I explain to a child that they have to go to school without bathing – and then there’s the bullying that come with not only living in a squatter camp but also their inability to bath,” she said.
The City said it was investigating the matter.
Cape Argus