Unstable water supply reaches point of crisis
The unstable water supply felt in larger parts of Middelburg has reached a point of crisis, with pipes bursting so frequently that the Steve Tshwete Municipality's Department of Water and Sanitation can barely keep up.
While municipal workers deserve a pat on the back for working until the early hours of the morning, especially in Dennesig last night, to restore water to desperate households, residents of Mineralia, Middelburg South and Industrial, have gone without water for 14 days and counting and feel that they’ve been expected to “make peace” with the fact that pipe bursts are a norm.
A two week long battle to have water restored in this area has spurred DA Ward Councillor, Deon van der Merwe, to issue the following statement on the current water crisis:
The Steve Tshwete Local Municipality faces a total collapse of service delivery as they have not been able to sustain a stable water supply to ratepayers for the last 11 days.
Since the first municipal strike started in September 2021, the residents of Middelburg South, Mineralia and Industrial have been plagued by constant pipe bursts and water shortages which recently led to a complete collapse of services.
In the last 11 days alone, these areas had 39 pipe bursts, of which two were on the main line affecting the entire town of Middelburg and parts of Mhluzi.
The following facts are also alarming:
• It takes an average of two hours for leaks to be found, resulting in the loss of thousands of litres of clean drinking water.
• It takes an average of six hours before repairs are completed.
• Multiple repairs only lasted a couple of hours before bursting again.
• The majority of calls to the call centre go unanswered.
• Residents are kept in the dark as to what time water will be restored.
• The DA’s requests for water trucks and tankers were ignored by the Steve Tshwete Municipality.
We have therefore written to the Municipal Manager, Thokozile Zulu, and asked her to fix this issue as a matter of urgency.
We will also write to CoGTA MEC, Mandla Ndlovu, asking him to intervene in the constant municipal strikes and the ongoing service delivery issues within the municipality.
At the same time, we will approach the Human Rights Commission regarding the rampant human rights violations constituted by the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality towards its residents.
