What about my rights?

22-year-old Annuska van Deventer, who has been confined to a wheelchair her whole life due to cerebral palsy, might not be able to speak, but those who speak for her are in utter dismay at the gross violation of her human rights.

Annuska, who lives on Rosemary Street in Jackaroo Park, is a disabled person with special needs

She is confined to a wheelchair and requires 24/7 nursing care. Along with the struggles she faces every day, something as simple as having running water should not be on the list of things she needs to overcome – unfortunately, this has become her greatest challenge.

It has become a crisis for her, her family, and her caregivers.

Due to the nature of her disability, Annuska has to use diapers, and a feeding tube for her medication and often is not able to keep her food down, all of which requires a lot of laundry to be done and for all equipment used and clothing she wears to be sterile, but how does one do this without water?

More than three weeks ago, the municipality repaired a pipe in the street and damaged a waterline that runs directly to her home; since then they have had no water.

The municipality has been there seven times to do repairs, but as of Wednesday, July 17, there is still nothing more than a trickle coming out of the taps at her house.

“The water is running like a river into the stormwater drain. You can hear thousands of litres of water just being wasted. No water is evident on the road, this is a pipe underground that was damaged whilst performing other repairs more than three weeks ago.

We have reported this problem to everyone we know, and it seems to be falling on deaf ears. Water is a human right, and for Annuska, clean water could be the difference between life and death,” said Mariska Meyer, one of her nurses.

Prior to this water issue, their water pipe broke just before the meter, on the municipal side.

The municipality never bothered to come and fix the problem, just leaving them without water for days on end.

Out of sheer desperation, Annuska’s dad, Jannie van Deventer, decided to fix the pipe at his own cost.

The family has had no choice but to buy water at great expense, on top of all the medical expenses they already have to cover, this was not an added stress that they needed.

Annuska’s beloved animals had to be given away, as there simply was not enough water to go around to provide for every living being on the property.

The family has done everything in their power to ensure there is clean, sterile water for Annuska’s needs, but it has reached the point of being ridiculous.

There is a slight trickle of filthy water that comes out of the taps, and it takes over two hours to fill a small bucket.

The family has had to install special filters to purify the tap water – when they actually have water – as the municipal water is mostly just too filthy for use unless it goes through these stringent filtration and purifying processes that the family has paid for at their home.

They had four huge water tanks that cost them an arm and leg, which were supposed to be for emergencies only, not for municipal incompetence, but after weeks of no water, these tanks ran dry.

The family is at their wit’s end as to why nothing has been done to make life a little bit easier for Annuska by having one of her most basic needs met – water.

After weeks without water and tanks running dry, the municipality finally managed to fix the pipe that they allegedly broke in the late hours of Saturday evening, July 20.

The municipality was contacted for comment, but none was received by time of going to print.

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