Taps run dry in Ward 86
Residents of Sophiatown voice their frustrations as they live without running water in their homes.
The plight of water outages in several areas in Ward 86 persists and has left residents struggling to access water for several days.
Sometimes residents spent about two to three consecutive days without water and have to rely only on JoJo tanks placed in several suburbs by Johannesburg Water.
It has been a year since the problem started and it was recently exacerbated with some of the residents calling it a human rights issue that needs to be addressed. Areas affected include Sophiatown, Westbury and Newclare.
A resident from Sophiatown, Heinrich Campbell, who had been staying in the area for about 40 years said he couldn’t contain his frustration and described the problem as a human rights issue. “Something needs to be done,” he said.
On April 12, residents not limited to areas previously mentioned were yet again subjected to another day without water and promise of water tankers. Joburg Water’s Puleng Mopeli said on this particular day, these tankers were based in Coronationville and Westbury. While this is a manageable journey to take for those young enough to walk or drive there, for an elderly resident like Campbell, this is no easy feat. “We are too old to travel to other areas for water,” Campbell added.
Fellow community member, Geraldine Voges, who faces health complications such as asthma, chronic bronchitis and other chronic ailments, needs water to help ensure that the nebuliser and the mask she is in need of is clean. To ensure that, she undoubtedly needs water. “I cannot afford for these to be dirty. Should I pick up some bug, then what will happen?”
She too has been a long-standing resident of Sophiatown and recalled how though there were water issues last year, it really worsened at the start of the year. “Recently, it has become an everyday story, there either isn’t water or there is very low pressure. Today, I was up at 04:00 and by 05:00 the water was completely gone.”
Her concerns are not just limited to her own health but that of the greater community too. With big local hospitals and old age homes also being affected by this persistent water issue, to her, this means a lot of vulnerable people are being heavily affected.
Sophiatown resident Poppy van Rensburg said she has lived in the area for 18 years. She recalled that for the first 16 years, water was never a problem, but for the past two, the struggles have become a common issue. According to her, there are issues every second to the third day.
Speaking to Northcliff Melville Times on April 13, Van Rensburg said her taps had been dry since April 11, and she had no idea when the water would return. “We need our daily water, it is our constitutional right. We appeal to the government to provide clean, running water,” she said.
Joburg Water’s Mopeli insisted the pressure in several areas was a result of the reoccurring power failures which have subsequently affected the Rand Water supply to Johannesburg Water. “On days when the areas are negatively impacted, Joburg Water makes provision of roaming tankers.”
She said due to customers requesting the trucks to stop en route to Sophiatown, there are delays in delivering water to other areas. “We are waiting for more trucks from the service provider,” she said.
Ward 86 councillor Chantelle Fourie-Shawe confirmed that the water crisis has been a long-term issue, but said an upgrade to the system was due to begin later this year. She has appealed to affected residents to report water outages every single time they occur, to enable her to put pressure on Joburg Water to respond to the outages quickly. She also commented that poor communication from Joburg Water to residents often meant that residents were not adequately warned when water levels dropped.
For many in these communities, however, this excuse does not hold any water with this being a daily occurrence now.
Related Article:
