Water levels alarmingly low in Dumbe

ACCORDING to a report by AfriForum, Paulpietersburg has on three separate occasions in the past three weeks experienced water shortages, which lasted for days.

Dam levels in the Dumbe area have dropped so drastically following the bad rain season, that the suction pipes have become visible above the surface.

“We’ve foreseen this problem, and various community organisations requested a meeting with the Zululand District Municipality to discuss the slumbering problem and to implement water restrictions, but we’ve received no feedback,” said Eugene van Aswegen, Chairman of the AfriForum branch in Paulpietersburg.

Problems at the stand-by boreholes, which include old and corroded equipment, were reported to the Municipality in February of this year.

Only when the initial controllable problem developed into a crisis, did the Municipality start showing interest on putting plans in place with members of the community.

“The action plans are implemented way too slowly and are not sustainable. The next phases will have to be implemented urgently, before residents have to deal with permanent water shortages, ” said Van Aswegen.

Van Aswegen also said that the already-imposed water restrictions have not been communicated properly and that some residents still water their gardens, without getting reprimanded. Water leakages are yet another problem left unattended.

“If the Municipality does not take up this matter with the necessary gravity, we will have to approach the Department of Water Affairs. We will merely have to establish intervention of some sort,” he concluded.