Cape Town - A Langa family with a 75-year-old uncle on medication has been without water for nearly two weeks.
An employee sent to fix the problem allegedly told them that it was not his speciality, before leaving.
Resident Nompumelelo Tsolekile who lives in Harlem Avenue with her family of five said: “There was a water burst in the meter box on December 26 but because it was a holiday we assumed we wouldn’t get help so we waited for Monday. We first went to their offices in the area. We were only given a number to SMS the City and were told to lodge a complaint there.
“We waited on December 28 for someone to respond with a way forward, but nothing happened. Later in the day my neighbour gave me the call centre number to call and the operators kept changing. They all just said my complaint had been marked as urgent and I would be assisted,” said Tsolekile.
She said the next day a City of Cape Town staff employee went to assess the problem and allegedly said it was not his speciality, before leaving.
“He had a bad attitude and didn’t want to answer why he was sent if that was not his speciality. My neighbour has been providing us with water all this time. No one can live without water, especially now with Covid-19. One would expect a sense of urgency in water-related matters.”
Tsolekile said she was mostly worried about her 75-year-old uncle who needed water for medication and they needed to keep the house clean.
After the Cape Times enquired about the matter, the City said a team had been dispatched to re-investigate.
“Staff visited the property on December 29 after receiving a report of a water leak on site. However, no faults were found and the service request was closed. There are no other service requests linked to the property on the City’s system. A team was dispatched to re-investigate.”
The City said it had contacted the resident to provide an update and clarify the delay and advise on the steps that had been taken.
“After receiving further details from the customer on January 4, a new service request detailed with the correct description has now been logged. The fault has been directed to the City’s Water Device Management team to expedite the matter.”