Water crisis hits hospitals hardest
Emfuleni mayor pleads for supply to resume
Operations at two public hospitals in Gauteng were strained because of five days of dire water shortages in the Vaal.
This was after water supply in areas under the cash-strapped Emfuleni municipality was reduced because of an unpaid R450-million water bill.
Areas including Sebokeng, Evaton, Lakeside and Roshnee were affected.
Yesterday, Rand Water gave instructions for water to be restored after Emfuleni mayor Jacob Khawe blockaded its offices along with other municipal officials.
Khawe said they wanted to know why an instruction to reinstate the water supply had not been given on Monday as initially agreed.
He said the situation in the area had grown desperate, impacting on residents and health facilities.
Khawe said patients and staff at the Kopanong and Sebokeng hospitals were struggling to cope.
“Just imagine a hospital without water. It will be a disaster and that disaster cannot happen under my watch,” Khawe said.
He said the municipality had paid R177million in the past two months in an effort to reduce the R200-million debt it was supposed to pay in November 2017.
“We acknowledge that we have defaulted as a municipality but we have been paying for the past two months but we think that the action that was taken was a bit too harsh,” Khawe said.
He said they were exploring the option of allowing Rand Water to supply water directly to communities and collect revenue.
DA health spokesman Jack Bloom expressed concern: “People are going to get sick due to lack of water. Hygiene is a priority when it comes to hospitals.”
Spokesman at the provincial health department Lesemang Matuka said the doctors quarters were badly affected at Sebokeng Hospital and alternative arrangements were made for staff until water was restored yesterday.
“We can assure the public that all the- atres at Sebokeng Hospital are functioning and operations have not been affected,” Matuka said.
Rand Water yesterday condemed the occupation of its business premises and said it viewed such action to have been entirely unnecessary as the municipality was in breach of a settlement agreement reached last month.
“It is also wholly incorrect to say such action was in response to steps taken by Rand Water to reduce water supply due to non-payment on the part of the municipality. There was until today a 20% reduction in supply as a result of the request from the municipality to cap supply to within levels affordable to them,” said spokesman Gregg Mulzack.