It was a bleak festive season for residents of Glenhills, Stanger, who have suffered from water shortages for most of December and January and now are demanding urgent action from Ilembe municipality.
Glenhill’s Civic Association (CA) chairperson Rishi Pooran said the water shortages and disruptions were a regular occurrence that was mainly due to old infrastructure.
He said that for many residents, the festive season and their time in their homes were ruined by not having water or dealing with a low-pressure flow.
“This has been happening for the past few years and there is always something going wrong in the festive season. On December 24 we were informed by Ilembe municipality via social media that there will be a water supply outage in Glenhills. This was due to a leak in the pumping main and the pump had to be shut down. The water has since been on and off and the water tankers do not deliver every day. Ilembe has some serious issues that need to be attended to.”
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Pooran said for years residents have been paying in advance for a service they do not enjoy.
“Potable water is a basic human right and is being violated time and time again. Ilembe is now playing politics with people’s democratic rights.”
Ilembe municipality has been facing near bankruptcy for the last two years.
Mayor Sduduzo Gumede admitted in an interview last year that infrastructure urgently needed upgrading and that the municipality would be working on the problem, as well as establishing a new call centre to manage complaints from residents.
Glenhills resident Manny Sookanan said he will be spending the festive season this year at a relatives house.
“It is embarrassing when you invite people home and you do not have a simple thing like water.”
The CA has asked to meet with the mayor, municipal manager, CFO and head of water and sanitation on January 20. Ilembe municipality has not responded to questions on how they plan to curb the water problem.
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