Empty promises, empty taps
After residents of Mineralia, Middelburg South, and Groenkol went for 29 days without a stable water supply, the current municipal strike has once again left them in the lurch, as no definite answer can be given about when the already postponed cutover to PVC pipes will commence.
Residents were continuously denied their constitutional right to clean, running water for three weeks and desperately swallowed at empty promises from the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality, whose only solution to recurring pipe bursts was the phased cutover, which should have been taken into effect last week Wednesday.
The phased cutover, however, did not offer a solution to a large part of Mineralia, where the new PVC system is not yet in place.
DA Ward Councillor, Deon van der Merwe explained that while he is currently in correspondence with Acting Municipal Manager, Ms Thokozile Zulu about the planned cutover, he has received no feedback about when work will take place.
Cllr. Van der Merwe was relieved to point out that the uncontrollable pipe bursts have eased up, with no bursts in the worst affected areas since Saturday.
He confirmed that water pressure has not been stabilised but that the flow is strong enough for basic domestic use.
Pipe bursts will be repaired as they occur regardless of the strike, as the municipality will implement emergency processes where necessary.
