Bishopstowe’s water woes
“How are the farmers supposed to continue working? How must our animals survive? How must we live, and why must we live like this?”
Residents of Bishopstowe and surrounding areas have been surviving on four hours of water a day since December last year. The only time they have access to water is from 4am to 8am.
According to residents, one of the pumps of the reservoir that supplies the water blew up in December last year. They were informed by the Msunduzi Municipality that the pump has been sourced from Johannesburg and as soon as it arrives, the water supply will be restored. The pump has not yet arrived.
A resident, Darryl Simmons, said that the municipality has not maintained the reservoir, resulting in a number of leaks. He also said that as soon as the reservoir fills up, it empties again.
Simmons has assisted the residents by providing nine tank loads of water in his personal capacity. The area falls within ward 38 and is occupied by mainly residents and small-scale farmers, who are battling to sustain their livestock and farms under these water restrictions.
A further allegation is that the residents believe someone physically switches off the supply forcing residents to resort to filling up containers.
Resident, Janine Mackay, said they are fed up, as there is no resolution to the problem. “We need to live decently. We are paying for service delivery – what service? What delivery?” she asked. She added that when they went to the reservoir recently, it was empty.
“How are the farmers supposed to continue working? How must our animals survive? How must we live, and why must we live like this? This is not right,” an emotional Mackay lamented.
She added that water is used many times over. “First the baby will bath, then me and then my brother. We will then use this water to flush the toilets.”
She said that some of the residents have had to leave and go live in town with relatives due to the water issues. “We have a jojo tank and have now resorted to boiling rainwater, but what about others who can’t?”
Mackay said the municipality did send a tanker for them to fill up water on Saturday, but the water was finished by 11am, and they haven’t been back since.
Although they have a limited supply of water, residents say there is no significant decrease in their municipal bills.
The restricted water supply is compounded by the frequent electricity outages, making life extremely difficult for residents and the farming community.
Despite multiple attempts, comment from Msunduzi Municipality was not forthcoming at the time of going to print.