Residents complain about lack of clean running water
Sand River residents say they have gone for seven years without running water.
The residents of Sand River have been without running water for seven years now.
The community members claimed that since the taps were installed in 2016 by the City of Mbombela, they had never seen a single drop of water out of these taps. Instead, they had to depend on water tankers, which are also unreliable.
The pipes were installed just a few months before the 2016 local government elections. The residents suspect the ruling party was just luring them for their votes.
They were promised that soon as the bulk pipeline was fully constructed, they would have access to clean water, but that never happened.
Vusi Nkosi, a resident, said the community was suffering, because the water tankers do not deliver water regularly.
“We go for days without getting water, and we are forced to either buy water or use dirty water from the streams or the local river. I don’t know why they erected the taps, as we have now gone for seven years without water.”
He said the community tried on several occasions to engage the City of Mbombela to intervene, but that their pleas had fallen on deaf ears.
Meanwhile, Maria Mkansi, another resident, said she has accepted her fate that she will never drink water from the tap installed in her yard.
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“What pains me is that I grew up fetching water from the river and now my kids had to go through that in this democratic country. We had a lot of meetings with the officials from the City of Mbombela, and all of them promised to fix the matter, but nothing happened.”
The spokesperson for the CoM said the delay was caused by internal problems between Bushbuckridge Local Municipality and the City, because the bulk pipeline was built closer to Bushbuckridge, and both municipalities were supposed to share it.
“We have resolved the matter. We are currently busy with the booster pipe so that we can start the reticulations into the villages, because the bulk is supposed to supply the whole of Nsikazi North. We therefore plead with our communities to be patient with us,” said Ngala.
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