For the past three months residents of Thembeni in Groutville have been queuing up for water from 4pm up until midnight.
Resident Zama Mnikathi said that public meetings had been held to inform people of the times of water supply, but these had changed without notice.
Now they only get water from 4.30am to 8am and from 4pm to 9pm and sometimes from 7pm to 9pm.
Sthembiso Ntuli said the problem is getting out of hand, because people come with more than one bucket and that leads to long queues.
“You will find people queuing for water till midnight and some will be at the stand pipes around 3am to be in the front of the queue,” said Ntuli.
Allies Bhengu from water services at Ilembe district municipality said Thembeni, Malende and Charlotte areas in Groutville were all being affected by the water shortage.
He asked residents to understand that when the water has been switched off, it might take more than 30 minutes for water to reach every standpipe in the area.
“The other issue with Thembeni is that the number of people living there is more than the amount of water supplied to the area,” said Zungu.
To meet the demand extra water trucks are being sent to these areas. He appealed to community leaders to ensure that everyone gets water.
