Water issues in Heidelberg continue

The water issues have not eased. In 2023, Heidelberg was crippled because of months with no to little water.

There were various petitions and protest actions to get the problem attended to.

In the last few months of 2023, it seemed like all the problems were sorted out. However, since the start of January, the water issues have returned.

“Burst pipes have caused huge amounts of water to be spilt. Coupled with that is that load-shedding has caused pumps not to work correctly and the maintenance not to pump water sufficiently.

“Maintenance by Rand Water and Eskom also needs to be carried out, again causing water delays. Currently, the high-pressure areas’ water supply has dried up due to burst pipes. The pipes are being repaired and, hopefully, will soon be sorted out,” said Star Maholobela, the sewage and stormwater department manager.

To make matters worse, the electrical supply in Heidelberg has come under tremendous strain because the wet weather has caused multiple power interruptions.

The Lesedi Local Municipality call centre has come under much pressure, and there are reports from the community that, at times, the call centre does not pick up the phones because of the number of calls.

Recently, specific areas have been more severely affected than others, such as Madeliefie Street in Bergsig.

Other areas are parts of Heidelberg Central, Jameson Park, Ratanda, Luckhoff, Vaaldam Smallholdings and Rensburg.

Worsening things is the restart of stripping electrical boxes. Most of the time, this happens during load-shedding.

Anyone who sees someone tampering with electrical boxes is urged to contact the authorities immediately.