Protesters in KaNyamazane demand water 24/7

About 15 men marched, danced and sang in front of Silulumanzi in Mbombela. The protesters demanded a 24-hour supply of water for the KaNyamazane community, Mountain View section, this afternoon at a protest..

These people are said to currently receive their water supply bi-weekly.

A protester said the company had promised to get back to them about their request in December, however, no one has given them feedback regarding their discussion.

“We are not here to fight or touch anything, we just want our rights, we want to know what’s going on,” he told Lowvelder.

He further said there is an organisation that wants to provide flushing toilets for the community, but that Silulumanzi is delaying this process.

“We live in an urban area, they can give the outside toilets to the people in the rural areas,” he added.

Richmond Jele, the public relations manager of Silulumanzi, said indeed they had had a meeting with the residents. The organisation and its management visited the site.

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However, they informed the community that it is impossible to provide them with a 24-hour water supply.

“What we could do is extend the schedule hours in which they receive water, that we have done. But every time we do that, another community suffers,” he explained.

Jele added that there are residents from informal settlements around the area who illegally tap into water sources and this disrupts the supply.

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For the community to have a constant water supply, a dam needs to be built to store water.

“Unfortunately, what we have is a reservoir for supply. When it is empty we refill it again,” he concluded.