Close to 14 days and counting… Two weeks without water for most residents in the AbaQulusi area and the answer to all the questions are all the same: ‘it’s a burst pipe’ or ‘a cable was stolen’. The people are fed up with excuses and / or no answers regarding the constant water issues in town. In a previous edition of the Vryheid Herald, the municipality indicated that the infrastructure is old and they can only fix something when it’s broken. The year started off with no water when a huge cable (not kept in stores) was stolen, leaving residents with dry taps for days.
DA Ward Councillor Magda Viktor told the Herald that she has been involved in the water issues since 2016 when Vryheid was stricken by drought. Cllr Viktor says that when asbestos pipes (that have not been replaced yet and are still part of the water system in Vryheid) run dry for a few days, they burst when the water is suddenly flowing again. Furthermore, she explains that general service delivery in town is provided by people who are efficient, while there are others who are not competent to do their job at all. “There is definitely a shortage of knowledge and competence in the plumbing department.” She says that the incompetence is a burden for those who can actually do the job, since they have to work twice as hard to get things done. She adds that she knows for a fact that the municipality does not have the funds to stock the parts to fix certain infrastructure in town, hence the parts have to be ordered – which is time consuming.
“My absolute frustration about the water and non-existent service delivery is that some of the infrastructure and pipes are close to 100 years old and should have been replaced a long time ago, including the asbestos pipes. Sometimes I wonder what happens to the funds that municipalities receive to maintain infrastructure, because this problem is not only in Vryheid; it’s everywhere.” She continued by saying: “What bugs me the most is that today a pipe bursts and it takes them up to three days to get the equipment together and then a day to fix the pipe. A problem most people don’t understand is that once the fault is restored and the water is lifted from the dam, the water has to go to the water works first to be purified. Then it goes to the reservoir in Klip Street, which has to fill up first before it can be opened. The water has to be at a certain level before they can open it to the homes of residents. I strongly believe that there is some kind of sabotage going on, because there is a pattern with these burst pipes and stolen cables.” She believes that there is ‘political play’ within the municipality between the political parties.
Cllr Viktor says that when she refers to the water, that includes the electricity outages as well. “When you have water but no electricity, then you won’t have water either, because they can’t pump water and there are neither back-up pumps nor a generator.” She says that the pump that is currently pumping water has pieces missing and she doesn’t know how it is working. The pump is also currently running on a generator. “This has a negative impact on the economy when there is no water or electricity. People are struggling to pay their water and electricity bills because their businesses can’t fully function without the basics. This has a snowball effect.”
“Another thing that bothers me is that there is no communication to the public regarding issues. When you phone officials, they don’t answer or they ignore your calls and they are the ones who are supposed to give answers about service delivery,” Cllr Viktor passionately told the Herald. She concluded by saying that the issue is the infrastructure, the maintenance thereof, as well as officials who are not doing their jobs.
The question remains: What is the way forward for Vryheid and its residents?
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