Water crisis has brought community closer together

BHEKUZULU residents say the reason there aren’t many communal water tanks left to collect water from in their area, is because the tanks have been stolen.

Contrary to a national media report, which claimed that, “ the scarcity of water and the tensions over it have fuelled the flames of racial tension,” residents interviewed by the Vryheid Herald have countless stories to tell of black and white people working together to survive the water crisis as a community.

The national media report went on to describe how, “the 8 000 mainly black people in Bhekuzulu rely on two tankers for their water,” but in , “mainly white Vryheid,” JoJo tanks supplied by the municipality can be found at 15 water collection stations spread out across the town.”

War room convener for Ward 11 in Bhekuzulu, JE Mchunu, says that five communal JoJo tanks installed in his area by the municipality, have all been stolen.

“The JoJo tanks have been stolen, so, in order to ensure that the people in my area still have access to water, the municipality sends a water truck to deliver water nearly every day. If it is late, I contact the Speaker of the council, Michael Khumalo, and the truck is usually here within 15 minutes of my phonecall.

“I appreciate that the municipality is doing what it can. I believe it only has three water delivery trucks. Even though they are running out of trucks, they are still managing to bring water here. In the beginning, when the water truck arrived, people were running for water, but now they are standing patiently in the queue, which is managed by members of the ward committee. It usually goes very smoothly and I haven’t heard of anyone fighting for water.

“We are looking at boreholes as an alternative, to supply water to Bhekuzulu’s residents. One borehole has been dug already and we are waiting for test results to tell us if the water is safe for drinking or of it is only for washing and cleaning. There is another borehole in the pipeline,” explained Mr Mchunu.

Elliot Enyandeni, who lives in a section of Behkuzulu known as Mpofini, is grateful to his white boss for giving him a 640litre tank to take home, in order to ensure that he always has adequate water for washing and cleaning at his house.

Mr Enyandeni’s tank was stolen from his home on December 11.

“Luckily, my children scratched their names onto the tank using scissors and wrote on the tank with permanent marker. Other residents in my area saw the tank at a Vryheid tavern and were able to recognise it because of my children’s writing. The police recovered the tank at the tavern and I managed to get it back,” said Mr Enyandeni.

“In my neighbourhood, three communal JoJo tanks have been stolen. People are running out of water because there are so many people living in the area. They have to queue for hours when the water truck comes. They sometimes argue with each other when they become impatient but they do not fight. There is a man who delivers water to the homes of those of us who are lucky to have a tank of our own. He charges R100 for 1000litres but I am not sure that the water is safe for drinking, so I still take four 20litre containers with me when I go to town to fill with clean drinking water from one of the water collection points.”

He concluded, “From what I have seen, black and white people are working together to help each other during the water crisis. What we need is for our ward councillors to come to the party. They need to call a public meeting to hear what the challenges in the area are. They need to supply more JoJo tanks, or they need to dig more boreholes.”

The only Bhekuzulu councillor that the Vryheid Herald could reach at the time of print was Cllr Dudu Mazibuko, whose response was, “Everything is alright with the water in Bhekuzulu. There is nothing wrong here in my ward.”

Ward 9 councillor, Alta de Kock, said she often sees black and white people helping each other at the water collection points in town.

“They help each other to carry the heavy containers. This morning a black gentleman called from Nyala Drive and said that he didn’t have a water tank near him, so I arranged with the municipal manager to have three JoJo tanks installed in that area. If anybody in my ward came to me with a problem regarding access to water, I would do whatever I could to try and help them regardless of race. Water is a basic necessity that everybody needs. When I discuss the scarcity of water with my ward, we never consider creed or colour,” said Cllr da Kock.

Former DA councillor, Harry Heyns, expressed deep displeasure at the suggestion that Vryheid was at war over water, and that there is racial tension over the scarcity of water.

“There isn’t a war for water. There is great co-operation between black and white people. The people who wait in line at the water collection points help each other, whether it is a black person or a white person. They will help you to carry the water to your vehicle as the containers become much heavier when they are full. They will even help to open and close the taps while you swap containers. This issue has been taken out of context,” he complained.

“There are not enough water collection in points in Bhekuzulu because the tanks have been stolen. I personally distributed the JoJo tanks in Bhekuzulu, but they are now all gone. At the swimming pool, the borehole has run dry, so there are six JoJo tanks standing there that are no longer in use. These could be taken to Bhekuzulu, but there is a high risk of them also being stolen.

“There are issues at the water collection points with people who wash their cars there, but this is not a racial issue. Any concerned resident who sees an unconcerned resident washing a car at the collection point will say something. What upsets me is that the car washes in town, and I know of one owned by a white person, one owner by a black person an one owned by and Indian person, are operating illegally, and they are wasting water.”

Mr Heyns warned, “Residents ought to know that we won’t have water for a very long time to come. Even once the dams are replenished, all 700 water meters that were stolen will have to be replaced. All the fire hydrants will have to be replaced. We will then only be able to restore water to a small section of town at a time, because we will have to repair all the pipes that are going to burst. Vryheid can prepare for at least another year without water.”

Community activist, André Rheder, said the biggest lesson he learned about people working together happened last week.

“When the Spar was on fire, white people, black people and Indian people came out for a common cause, to stop the fire, when the municipality failed us. Everyone worked together to put that fire out. Race didn’t matter,” he said.

“There is some frustration at the water points that are meant for bakkies. When people try filling their containers with a 20mm opening, using a pipe with a 50mm opening and there is water being wasted, people do get upset. People also get upset if you don’t close the taps in between filling containers because all that water just flows down the road. Overall, however, I have seen that this crisis has brought everyone closer together as a community,” concluded Mr Rheder.

Mthobisi Buthelezi, who assists with water delivery in town, feels the same way.

“I have also witnessed people helping each other at the water collection points. I live in Mvunyane, about an hour away from Vryheid. In my community, there is one borehole supplying water. You have to queue for hours. If you don’t get to the front of the line that day, you leave you container overnight to keep your place in the queue and you return the next day. It is sad, but the people there do not have the money to have water delivered to their homes. On the other hand, if the people in town did not have money for water delivery, I may be at home without a job,” said Mr Buthelezi.

Everyone interviewed by the Vryheid Herald shared a common sentiment.

“Pray for rain,” they said.

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