Robbed of basic necessity
RESIDENTS in Bonela want accountability and action from the eThekwini Municipality following water disruptions.
Shiraz Naroth, a resident and member of the Bonela Community Police Forum, said they were recently left without water for more than a week.
“Some zones in Bonela had intermittent water since last Sunday. The municipality said this was due to repairs taking place. We assumed it would be a temporary problem and the water would be restored later that day. But this was not the case.
“The municipality then said the pump was not pushing out enough pressure to fill the reservoir. It was excuse after excuse.
“We were lucky if we got water for an hour or two.”
He said during this time the community found sponsors to distribute water.
Aquila Matthews, of Buckingham Road, lives with her mother and four children.
“My mum, who is on chronic medication, could not take her tablets that Sunday. We had to wait until the following day to get water. Two of my children were unable to go to school because they could not bathe.
“Water is a basic necessity. It is unfair that we are being robbed of this, yet we pay our utility bills and rates on time every month. While the municipality did send water tankers, we are grateful to all the sponsors who also provided us with water.”
Ricky Naidoo, the owner of Venkpac, a plastic packaging company, said he dispatched three trucks a day with water to the various areas. Each truck had about 12 000 litres of water that was stored in flow bins.
Since last year, Naidoo has assisted communities in eThekwini during the water disruptions.
“I was hospitalised with Covid-19 and heard about the plight of the Chatsworth community at that time. I sent my trucks out with these massive flow bins. Water was filled at my business premises in Verulam or at one of the city’s water depots.
“I was on my death bed but I believe I survived because of all the blessings I received from people. Since then I have taken it upon myself to ensure that whenever there is an issue with water, I will send our trucks to help.
“So far, we have been distributing water to areas including Verulam, Isipingo, oThongathi, Shallcross and as far as Port Shepstone almost every day and night."
Naidoo said the city needed to answer for the constant water disruptions.
“I cannot understand why the municipality is not giving people answers.
“They cannot keep saying the water levels are low.
“We had enough rain. They also say it’s due to power outages but we have had that as well all these years. Every day is a new excuse.
“What is happening is just poor maintenance. To resolve these water issues, the first point of action is to look into proper maintenance and management of these reservoirs so people can stop suffering.”
On Tuesday morning, the supply was fully restored to all zones.
Lindiwe Khuzwayo, the spokesperson for the eThekwini Municipality, said Bonela had no water due to the reservoir not filling up.
“Repairs were concluded over the past weekend and the reservoir has started to fill up.
“Consumers should now be receiving water supply.”