Difficult to lead normal lives

“WE cannot and will not live this life anymore,” said Dravina Ramai of Trenance Park in Verulam.

“How much longer will we suffer without proper water?”

Ramai, and other residents in Trenance Park, have received intermittent or no piped water for more than a week. Like others in the area, she said she was fed up with the continuing water disruptions.

“Since January 21, several roads have had water running on and off, while others have had no water. On Monday morning, the water supply seemed to have returned to some parts of the area but then, it was back off and on.

“We have been forced to become accustomed to these water cuts since last year, but it seems to be getting worse.

“What is frustrating is that the municipality sent one tanker to the area once a day when many people were at work

“I asked the city to send another water tanker in the evening but this did not happen. It is frustrating and unacceptable. How do we lead normal lives under such conditions?”

Ramai said sponsors including businesses, organisations and religious leaders, provided them with water. “They are coming to our aid when the government seems to have failed us.”

Luthfia Syed, of Trenance Park, said: “The water problem started a few years ago when low-cost homes were being built around the area. The capacity of the reservoir was, however, not increased to accommodate the growing number of people. So, of course, we will have constant water outages.

“But why are we still paying so much for water? The water meters are still running during these cuts.”

Lindiwe Khuzwayo, the spokesperson for eThekwini Municipality, said the supply was fully restored on Friday.

“However, today (Monday) we were dismayed to find that some areas were still without water due to four air valves being stolen causing airlocks in the system. This led to water outages again. These have been replaced and the tower is filling again.”

She said the supply was expected to be restored by Tuesday afternoon.

Khuzwayo urged residents to report infrastructure vandalism to the police on 10111.