Barrels of charity for dry Lenasia
WHEN the taps ran dry in Lenasia, residents filled up their bakkies with plastic tanks and set about distributing 50 000 litres of borehole water to their neighbours.
Gauteng faced a critical water shortage this week as dams and reservoirs in the province ran low, sparking concerns of an impending crisis.
The province faced the threat of stage 3 regulations — in effect water-shedding that would cut the supply of water to residents during scheduled hours.
Johannesburg is on stage 2 water restrictions, which means residents are not allowed to water their gardens between 6am and 6pm, fill pools with municipal water or wash cars using a hosepipe.
On Monday reservoirs, including the Lenasia and Alexander Park reservoirs, were affected.
“We were informed over the weekend that the water levels were low and that we could be without water for three weeks,” said Lenasia resident Lenny Spider.
He said the community decided to take matters into their own hands instead of waiting to be rescued.
“We got a couple of water drums, filled them up with water from a borehole from a local business and handed out water to our neighbours,” said Spider.
They loaded the drums onto the back of bakkies and drove through the streets delivering nearly 50 000 litres of water and working until 3am on Tuesday.
“We didn’t want people to come and collect the water because we have elderly residents and we had to help them to carry the buckets into the homes,” he said.
Spider said the community had decided to implement its own continency plan.
“Having no water has a huge impact. We can live without electricity, but not without water,” he said.
A resident who did not want to be named said she was very grateful for the assistance.
“It was a struggle, but without the help of the community we would have really battled,” she said.
Gauteng municipalities have been ordered to reduce water usage by 15%, but most are struggling to meet this target, saying that residents and businesses are not taking it seriously.
In Ekurhuleni, water rationing was implemented as a drastic step to increase its 3.5% reduction.
Spokesman Themba Gadebe said that although heavy rain fell this week, it was too early to estimate its impact on water levels.
“The country needs good rainfall for an extended period to come out of the drought of recent years.”
Since Monday, water supply in Ekurhuleni has been shut off from 9pm to 5am every day.
Radebe warned that if these water-saving measures did not “achieve the required 15%, the city will ration water during the day as well”.
The City of Tshwane faced infrastructure issues when cable theft shut down the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works. It left residents without water for five days in September.
Darryl Moss, member of the mayoral committee for infrastructure, said South Africa was facing a real water crisis.
The municipality has also implemented stage 2 restrictions.
“It is a crisis and the residents of the city don’t understand the enormity of it.
“We are busy restricting flow in areas that are the biggest users,” said Moss.
He said 20% of water usage went on gardens.
Moss urged residents to report neighbours who flout the restrictions, saying they could face a fine of up to R1 500.
Hilgard Matthews, a spokesman for Johannesburg Water, said the recent rains had done little to raise dam levels.
With stage 2 restrictions in place, Matthews said, the city had managed to lower consumption by 14.5%.
“But two weeks ago some areas were without water and this contributed to the decrease.”
He said watering gardens accounted for the highest water consumption.
Matthews said that if people stopped watering their gardens, Johannesburg would reach its target in reducing water consumption.