After five days without water, the Ramsgate South community had had enough of Ugu District Municipality’s lack of service.
Residents gathered on Marine Drive last Saturday morning, close to the BP Garage at a peaceful protest.
As of Wednesday morning, the residents were still without water.
Ugu has established that a 300mm pipe had burst between the Seaslopes command reservoir and the reservoir in Ramsgate South. Ramsgate has a history of water issues and is at the end of the line heading south from the Umzimkulu pump system.
Ward 2 councillor Alan Bosch was also in attendance along with other DA members. ‘Ugu must fall’ and ‘Ugu sucks’ were among the chants called out by the crowd, informing motorists and passers-by in the area that a lack of water will no longer be tolerated by the community.
Bosch explained: “They honestly don’t care. It would help if they (Ugu) were honest with us, but they just keep quiet and people can’t plan ahead.” He also added that he believes Ugu is a ‘very dysfunctional organisation’.
Some protestors even smeared themselves with mud to visually illustrate their inability to bath and maintain personal hygiene. “We need to bath! We are dirty!”
A majority of the protestors carried placards to express their dismay.
The most poignant chant was ‘Our mouths are dry!’.
It must be noted that Ramsgate South is not the only area facing water supply issues on the South Coast.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like the South Coast Herald’s Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
