CoM promises to resolve water issues in Sand River
The CoM's spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, said the municipality is working on supplying water to Sand River, as they are in a process of installing a water pump booster at the Hoxane Water Treatment Plant.
The City of Mbombela (CoM) is working on supplying water to certain villages near Hazyview that have been without it for seven years.
Meanwhile, the communities say they have finally come to the realisation that the municipality’s promises may not mean anything other than to try and secure votes for the next election.
Hazyview Herald recently reported that the CoM had installed some taps in the small Sand River Village just before the local elections in 2016, after which the residents have not seen a drop of water from them, they claim.
The CoM’s spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, said the municipality is working on supplying water to the affected villages. He said the CoM now has a share in the Hoxane Water Treatment Plant and is in the process of installing a water pump booster.
ALSO READ: Sand River waterless for seven years
“Since we have our share of water with the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, we are currently busy with the installation of the booster that will assist us in water reticulation within the communities. We are now pleading with the members of the community to bear with us while we are busy with the installations. We are going to liaise with the ward councillors on why the water tankers are not delivering water to the villages,” he said.
Ngala also condemned the illegal water connections as it disrupts the municipality’s water supply. He said tampering with the water system is a challenge to the CoM, as it is forced to spend money repairing the pipes, and sometimes some leaks lead to water loss.
ALSO READ: Villagers around Hazyview connect to water illegally, claiming nothing is done to supply them
Meanwhile, the residents claim that the CoM is “just pulling another stunt to get votes, because they have failed us for seven years”.
“We have lost trust in our municipality, because we had taps in our yards for seven years, and until today, we have never tasted the water from them. Water tankers have stopped supplying us with water for months now. Instead they are selling us water. All we can say for now is that we will believe it once we have water coming out of our taps.”
The residents have also threatened to march to the municipal office or connect the water illegally if the municipality does not keep its promises this time.
