Residents in the northeast of Parys (including Heap, Ortlepp, Buiten, Oranje, Paulsen, and Venus streets) continued to suffer water supply problems for the fifth week now. While sporadic improvements were reported, affected residents still do not know the cause of their problems. The DA councillors, Arnold Schoonwinkel and Andries Vrey, say that, despite efforts to fix things, and technical teams having done various upgrades and repairs, “the problems simply keep recurring, day after day.” At first, Ngwathe blamed pipe leaks and broken valves. A number of these were fixed, notably in Buiten Street.
When this failed to solve the problems, DA councillors obtained detailed diagrams of the pipe network. With the blessing of the mayor, Joey Mochela, an outside contractor was invited to assist. The contractor, Mr Willie Hallaby, identified and fixed several problems, working with his own team and free of charge. The DA councillors paid for the materials to prevent delays (because the municipality did not have them in stock).
The repairs each brought water to some taps, but the taps ran dry again, sometimes within hours. Mr Hallaby, assisted by Mr Saal de Jager, then discovered that the water supply to the area was being restricted. “Officials seem to be closing certain valves, either partly or fully, at certain times,” Vrey told Gazette.
“This was denied at first, but, at last, an official admitted it to me.” If low reservoirs required water switching from one area to another for some reason, Vrey says “one would expect it to be well-managed and not leave one area with hardly any water for a month.” He said the director undertook to stop the practice on Monday. Schoonwinkel notified the mayor and municipal manager that the public was still not being warned in advance about problems, despite previous undertakings. Councillors and residents also had difficulty reaching officials for information.
“What little information we managed to get was often late, incorrect, or – worse still – contradictory,” he wrote. He told the Gazette that the mayor had been very helpful and responsive during the crisis. The DA councillors told the Gazette they would keep putting pressure on local officials. They have also escalated the problem to the Free State premier’s office and the National Department of Water Affairs. “The department promised to send help from Gauteng but, so far, none had come,” Schoonwinkel said on Tuesday.
