Water issues in parts of Heidelberg remains unresolved

For the past few weeks, parts of Heidelberg have been without water.

On the problem, the Lesedi Local Municipality (LLM) said underground leaks need repairing.

Corrective measures applied to the pinpointed areas have not eased the water issue.

Since then, Heidelberg has been further crippled by water not being pumped into the reservoirs fast enough and just a trickle running into them.

LLM water and sanitation manager Star Moholobela said they are struggling to get information from Rand Water and, therefore, can’t give definitive answers to the crisis.

The municipality is, however, supplying water tankers to various areas to help give water to the community.
In 2023, Heidelberg went through months of dry patches with no water in certain areas. It started in March and has been an ongoing concern since.

The community has launched various protests against LLM, but no definite answers are forthcoming.

Community members are fed up and have laid complaints with the Auditor-General.

During a municipal meeting on February 16, LLM head of infrastructure Thobeka Zondi gave feedback on the current water outages in many areas.

“Rand Water still fails to bring the intake pressure to the correct pressure of 550kPa, which is needed to fill up all Heidelberg’s reservoirs. Since February 8, intake pressure has continued to be between 200 and 250kPa,” said Zondi.

LLM Mayor Mluleki Nkosi said neighbouring municipalities can not help LLM by lending additional water trucks because they face the same challenges.

“LLM has only two running water trucks, and they are doing their best to supply water to the affected areas such as Rensburg, X23, and Obed Nkosi. However, they can do only so much with their little resources,” said Nkosi.

The comment we requested from Rand Water was not received at the time of publication.