Three million litres of water lost every day due to pipe leakage
Residents of Tzaneen are still hoping for an end to the water supply issues in town where the reservoirs are closed every evening, leaving taps dry between 21:00 and 05:00.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) released a statement on Monday saying that the Greater Tzaneen Municipality (GTM) loses 3 million litres of water daily due to rotten asbestos pipes. Proportional DA councillor and member of the finance committee, Chrisma Bredenkamp, stated that the DA in Tzaneen conducted regular oversights at the Georges Valley water plant and on the pipeline providing water to the plant over the past months.
“The capacity of the plant is 8.4 megalitres daily and only once during the oversights did the water input measure more than 65%. This means that 3 million litres of water are lost to the residents of Tzaneen every day and the chronic water shortages are exacerbated by load-shedding and water tankers illegally draining water from fire hydrants,” stated Bredenkamp. She further said that the main pipeline in Georges Valley is an asbestos pipe and riddled with leaks.
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“Although several leaks that we identified on oversights were repaired during the last three months, there are still six leaks that have yet to be repaired,” said Bredenkamp. “Despite the escalating water crisis, the municipal manager, Donald Mhangwana, lifted the moratorium for new developments in Tzaneen in May 2023. The DA requested written reasons for this decision but has not yet received a response.
“Roger Mills Street has no water for 20 hours per day at times, yet the municipality approved the development of building complexes situated 150 metres below and 200 metres above Roger Mills Street,” stated Bredenkamp. In the statement the DA demands that Mhangwana provides an implementable plan within the next ten days, threatening to report the matter to the South African Human Rights Commission should they not comply. The Herald reached out to Vutivi Makhubela, media liason of the GTM for comments on the matter. Makhubela says she will be able to provide feedback on the issues raised in next week’s edition of the Herald.
