Machadodorp residents in dire straits over water supply
For a whole month the community have only had water between 01:00 and 04:00.
The community has been without proper running water for a month.
Residents now demand that the Emakhazeni Local Municipality (ELM) resolve the issue.
They also claim that they were not informed why the water had been switched off.
One of the residents, Wendy Wastl, said they have been struggling since the municipality switched off their water, and no one is telling them the truth regarding what is happening.
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“We only have water between 01:00 and 04:00; then the whole day we do not have running water. This has been happening for a month now. We are forced to buy water at the shops for drinking and other household usage. We have a lot of older people in the community,” she said.
“ELM once sent tankers to deliver water as part of its intervention, but afterwards people allegedly became ill after drinking it. After they realised the water was contaminated and people were getting ill from it, they stopped sending their tankers, leaving the community to find their own. Those who cannot afford to pay must wait until 01:00,” Wastl said
She added that most of the residents are paying their monthly municipal services that include sufficient water supply, which means they should have prioritised to repair any problems when they were encountered.
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Another resident, Martie Swanepoel, said she has called the provincial government to intervene because the municipality has failed them.
“We have had leaks all over the town and township for some time. They are not fixing them, and now they are now switching off our water instead of resolving the leaks. They are not even informing us as to what the problem is, or giving us a time frame as to when we are going experience water shortages.”
ELM’s spokesperson, Kagiso Nkosi, said it was unaware of the problem, but promised that the relevant department will be assigned to sort it out.
