Months-long water issues the final straw for White River residents

Labelling the current water situation in town anything other than a crisis, would be to downplay the severity of the problem.

Lowvelder visited several enraged members of the community on Monday April 24. During this time, it was discovered that the town had been without water for 95 days since December, according to some residents.

On days that water does flow from household taps, it is dirty and inconsumable and most likely a health hazard. In March alone, the town only had water for nine days, and in April, up until Monday, only five.

A resident, Ludolph Botha (75), could not hold back his tears and was so infuriated that he was willing to strip down to his boxers in protest against the hardships he has been suffering as a result of this dire situation. According to Botha, he has to go to nearby farms with empty containers to obtain water to bath and flush the toilet.

ALSO READ: White River water crisis still ongoing

“I look after my mother, who is 95. She cannot look after herself anymore. At my age, I have to carry water for myself, my wife and my mother. We use the water for flushing toilets and cleaning. I have to carry the heavy water containers onto my van and offload them into the house.

“My wife and I no longer work, but we still pay for services, and now have to buy water as well, which we cannot afford. How can the municipality expect people to survive without water for more than 20 days? Maybe the municipality wants to see me and other community members walking naked in the streets to show our frustrations to realise we need serious intervention? I am personally pleading with the mayor and the entire council to do something about the water crisis,” he said.

Botha is one of the many disheartened residents demanding a permanent solution from the City of Mbombela (CoM) for this ‘never-ending’ crisis.

Residents who can afford it, have been buying water for consumption, incurring additional costs despite regularly paying for monthly services.

“There was a slight improvement in supply for a short while, but now it seems the problems have returned. Not everyone is in the financial position to buy water from local retailers and is forced to drink dirty water,” the residents said.

ALSO READ: Water supply and sanitation in White River – the saga continues

The ward councillor for the area, Rowan Torr, once again stressed that the deteriorating water issue is a direct result of White River not receiving water from Silulumanzi’s pump stations.

“Both the mayor and officials have been promising that pump stations will be fitted with emergency generators. This has not been done. This is not a water shortage, but a system failure aggravated by load-shedding, continued electrical problems and mismanagement of the water systems,” Torr said.

He also added the community has tried to assist by collecting R46 000 to keep one of the water treatment plant pumps operational. He said it does help sometimes, even though the municipality takes its time to fill up the pumps with diesel to keep it running.

ALSO READ: Sections of White River without water for more than three weeks

The CoM’s spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, said the municipality is aware of the crisis and is working on a permanent solution.

“Load-shedding has a bad impact on the water system, because all our water treatment plants depend on electricity. Eskom was called on to stop load-shedding during the week in those areas depending on the Boschrand-Nels River link in order to improve the supply in the area. We are in the process of securing generators for all our water plants so that people will still have water during power cuts,” he said.

He also said the municipality is prepared to organise on-site storage for emergency water and was willing to provide tankers in the affected areas, but the resident do not want it.

“We have availed tankers, but people insist on water from taps and say they do not have containers and storage facilities in their yards.”