Vulnerable residents desperate over nonstop water outages

Ongoing water outages have left residents of Robertsham in Johannesburg South pleading for help as it severely affects their daily lives and health.

While Johannesburg Water and Rand Water urged residents to use water sparingly, some streets in Robertsham have not had water for the past four days.

A Robertsham resident, 48-year-old Sajid Tambay, who is blind, said: “Not having water has become a huge challenge. I am dependent on other people to help me get water, to fill up the drums, place them in the car and offload it,” he said.

“Sometimes people are out doing their own business and then I have to wait for about an hour or two before someone can drop off a five litre bottle or two for me. It is really difficult.”

Tambay said water was unavailable every second month and it had become normal in the area. “The last water outage was almost a month.

“This time it started on Thursday and until today we did not have water. Not a single drop,” he said yesterday.

Tambay said the situation was also a problem for his 77-year-old “very sick” mother.

“She has just undergone brain surgery. “We have to make sure her bedding is clean. “The toilet area as well for hygiene reasons and we do not know when the water is going to come or if the water in the drums is going to be enough” he said.

“And then load shedding makes it worse because then you don’t have water and you don’t have lights. “Then food then becomes a problem.

“How are we going to have clean drinking water? “In her case, we have to boil the water and keep it at all times.”

Tambay’s mother, Letifa Tambay, said it was really hard to cope as she was unwell and had to depend on the children. “It’s really hard,” she said.

“When there’s no water, I have to go to my eldest son’s house and stay there. “I am on nappies so I need water to wash and be clean.

“It is an inconvenience. This is my house. I am comfortable here so I prefer to be here.”

Rand Water and Joburg Water have raised the alarm over increasing water consumption which has placed a strain on its system.

Areas in and around south Joburg and Midrand were affected and Rand Water’s Eikenhof system was under severe pressure.

“Rand Water’s primary and secondary stations are operating at their maximum capacity.

“However, the entity is unable to maintain its reservoirs at high water levels because of high consumption by consumers and citizens in the metro and surrounding areas,” a joint statement said.

“As a result, reservoir levels remain at their lowest due to high consumption by consumers.”

Both water entities said consumers and citizens could assist by reducing their water consumption, but many residents cited water leakages around the city as part of the problem.