Residents of Etwatwa are pleading with the City of Ekurhuleni to stop what they called ‘water-shedding’.
On March 30, some streets were flooded with residents who queued up at nearby fire hydrants while some lined up at the Etwatwa reservoir.
Pushing wheelbarrows and wheelie bins while some carried buckets of various colours, the residents condemned the municipality for leaving them without water for weeks.
They claimed that some sections of Etwatwa East and Emaphupheni have been left without water for almost two months.
As a result, they have had to walk long journeys to get water and some said if it were not for the presence of the fire hydrants and the generosity of their neighbours, they would have suffered severely.
According to Nokuthula Shabalala from the Mandela section, the dry taps have affected her ailing parents who rely on water to take their medication.
“It’s been two months without water,” an irate Shabalala said.
“We are struggling. We can’t do our laundry or any household chores. This is severely affecting our parents who have to take their medication daily. The ward councillor must do something for us. Other areas have water but we don’t. It’s enough.”
John Rooi Ngaba from Emaphupheni accused the municipality of not caring for the people, saying they can’t keep their promises.
“We are struggling as a community. I come from the Ma16 section and look how far I have to travel to get water. They said there will be roving water tankers. There are none,” he said.
Young Miranda Mariquele, who was among community members at the fire hydrant behind the Etwatwa Fire Station, said this was done deliberately.
“It’s being done on purpose. When Julius Malema and the EFF held their national shutdown, load-shedding was suspended. We had electricity without any problems. This means if we can stage a protest against this, water will return instantly,” she said.
The residents had planned a protest action at the Etwatwa customer centre on March 31, which couldn’t take place due to the weather and the fact that on the evening of March 30, the water returned to their taps, albeit sporadically.
A dissatisfied Thabang Dichaba explained that while they are happy to have water back, they feel used.
“We had water on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. But on Sunday, we had water for about two hours. Today (April 3), the taps are dry again.
“They are using us. When they hear we are going to strike, water returns and when things calm down, we are back to square one,” he said.
The City of Ekurhuleni spokesperson Zweli Dlamini confirmed the municipality is aware of the water problems in the community.
He said this was due to critically low reservoir levels at Vlakfontein reservoirs one and two, which affected supply to areas in Etwatwa, Daveyton and Mayfield.
“Rand Water had previously reported that their system was affected by interruptions due to power failures and vandalism at their pumping stations, this resulted in their system struggling to recover even after the issues were resolved,” said Dlamini.
He added the Vlakfontein reservoirs had started to improve from April 1, with levels reaching 41%.
“Rand Water Vlakfontein reservoir 1 & 2 levels as at 12:00 on April 03 were 49% and 51% and water has been restored in all areas, including areas in Mayfield and Daveyton.”
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