IT has been more than four months and the rural community of Macekane Reserve in Ntambanana is still without water.
For countless families, it was a bleak festive season for a consecutive year as residents again scrambled for ample supply of the scarce commodity.
According to community members, water tankers scheduled to service the area weekly had not arrived and Jojo tanks were not filled regularly.
Other residents headed to the nearby river to collect water at 4am daily before the cows lined-up on the banks.
‘Buckets and 20 litre plastic containers are filled by women and carried on their heads to be used for morning baths, cooking and drinking,’ said a resident.
‘Tankers do not come regularly so we are forced to go to the river. If we are late when the water tanker arrives, there is no water. It is not enough for the community. We are suffering without water in this hot season,’ residents told the Zululand Observer.
Other community members said criminal incidents were hindering water supply to the parched community.
Several cables were reportedly stolen and pumps were vandalised in December.
Water usage
uThungulu District Municipal Manager Mandla Nkosi said the ‘sources of supply (reservoir) for the affected areas in wards 5, 6 and 8 were strained’ as a result of increased water usage in December.
‘When there is a high demand and strain on the pipeline, the furthest areas such as ward 5, which is the last point of supply, gets affected the worst,’ said Nkosi.
‘Another contributing factor is the vandalism of cables and pumps in ward 8 at Mambuka at the Mkhize dam, which supplements water to these areas. We have therefore been unable to pump water in this area. The ward councillors were asked to convene meetings to address the vandalism. Exco Councillor Thamsanqa Gcabashe and Technical Department officials have also appealed to the Inkosi for intervention in this regard.’
While trying to normalise the water supply, the uThungulu District in the interim has activated water tankers to supply affected communities.
‘All efforts are being directed at restoring the water supply,’ said Nkosi.
