According to these residents, the matter had been reported to the City of Mbombela (CoM) on several occasions, but kept falling on deaf ears. Even the ward councillor’s intervention did not lead to any action.
“The area is facing water shortages and a lot of water is wasted as the fire hydrants leak around the clock. At the end of the day, ratepayers must pay for it while this can be fixed. We had hopes that during CoM’s War on Water Leaks project, they would fix it, but it never happened,” the residents, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
They said they are not even sure if the hydrants are still functioning, and if a fire broke out, that they would be usable, as they had not been attended to in two years. Meanwhile, ward councillor Rowan Torr told Lowvelder he had also tried to convince CoM to fix the hydrants, but all he ever receives are promises.
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“The residents have been complaining to me, and I tried to get the municipality to fix it. I was told they would do so. However, it never happened and I am kept in the dark along with the community, which has to foot the bill for wasted water. My main concern is that we are not sure whether they are still working or not, and we cannot wait until there is a fire to test them. CoM needs to treat this as a matter of urgency,” he said.
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The CoM spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, promised to respond, saying he was still investigating the matter before he could comment. However, no respons was received by the time of going to press.
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