Johannesburg - Residents across parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal have expressed anger amid their taps remaining dry for several weeks and, in some cases, for two months.
Tsakane, KwaThema, Brakpan, Duduza and Palm Ridge in Ekurhuleni are some of the areas hardest hit by the ongoing water shortages. Residents there have been without water for two months.
Other areas include Germiston, Kempton Park, Nigel, Bedfordview, Edenvale, Midstream, Tembisa and more.
Under the City of Johannesburg, areas such as Midrand, Auckland Park and more are affected.
Under the eThekwini municipality, areas include Durban North, Effingham, Parkhill and uMhlanga. They have been without running water since last week on Monday. The municipality said it suspected pipeline sabotage, which police have confirmed.
Given this, Rand Water seemed to some to be peddling lies in a media statement claiming they had restored full pumping in all of its systems.
Sifiso Dlamini, a resident of Palm Ridge, told The Star the water problem has been ongoing for months.
“Any little chance we see water coming out of our taps, we fill up buckets and big water bottles. When there is no water, we find it difficult to live. Toilets don’t flush, meaning we are exposed to health hazards. This is not fair; my municipal bill is fully paid,” said Dlamini.
When there is no water, schools usually send pupils home, which affects learning.
An elderly Midrand resident (name withheld) said she struggled to fetch water from a water tank because it was heavy and she has a back problem.
“I don’t think it’s right that we are without water. I was without water from last Tuesday until yesterday, and then it was still out a while, and we got back later. It was on and off. It’s affecting me in such a way.”
Devasha Nair, from Somerset Park in uMhlanga, bemoaned the poor communication from the city.
“First we were told it was some valve problem. This wasn’t anything formal. We only received formal communication last Monday evening. From what I know, at around 4pm on Monday, it went out. A water tanker came to our area in the day, but most people were at work, so we couldn’t really use that. We’ve had to go out to family members and friends to bathe.”
The eThekwini municipality head of water, Ednick Msweli, said in an interview with one of the broadcasters that water had been restored, and affected areas should have started to receive water supply, with technicians “working tirelessly for about five days” to identify the cause of the damage.
“It has been a challenging five or six days for us, and what makes this time around unique is that the cause of the problem has been much more difficult to identify. The problems are not visual because there’s restrictions in the network, so the restriction can happen because an air valve has been damaged, vandalised or broken, and that causes loss in part of the capacity of your pipelines,” said Msweli.
The City of Ekurhuleni blamed Rand Water for not supplying them with adequate water in some reservoirs, though they had paid the entity.
Last week, the Finance MMC in Ekurhuleni, Nkululeko Dunga, said Rand Water was at fault.
“We do not owe the entity anything; we spent about R10 billion on them, but they are not supplying sufficient water,” Dunga said.
Rand Water, in a media statement, said they were pleased to announce full pumping capacity had been restored in all its systems and it was gradually filling the depleted reservoirs.
This followed water supply interruption to customers because of severe thunderstorms that damaged the powerlines at the Zuikerbosch Water Treatment Plant last Tuesday.
“We urge all consumers to use water sparingly, as we have observed an increase in water demand due to high temperatures. High water consumption is discouraged,” said Rand Water spokesperson Makenosi Maroo.
Professor Mike Muller of the Wits School of Governance said the catastrophic water cuts could have been avoided if there was open communication.
“What the municipalities aren’t doing, and I’m afraid Rand Water is part of this problem, is that we are not being told how much water is available per municipality, how much water is actually being used, and where that’s going. And I think we need to have that discussion.”
The Star