Tongaat taps run dry for a month
A MONTH has passed since infrastructure was damaged during the floods, and residents in Tongaat still do not have piped water. Their only source of water is from Jojo tanks, flow drums and new boreholes in the area.
The residents also depend on the generosity of donors and sponsors for bottled drinking water.
Lily Jergans, 68, of Plane Street, said she and her daughter used the water they filled from a Jojo tank at the Vishwaroop Temple sparingly. She said she injured her leg during an accident and while it was difficult to walk, she had to collect water.
“The bottles and buckets are heavy so we have to stop every few minutes to catch our breath,” said Jergans.
“We need the water to clean our house and wash clothes. Thankfully, some people drop off drinking water for us. We try to save as much water as we can because we don’t know how long we are going to suffer like this.”
Rama Naidoo, 52, of Plane Street, said: “Our household has five people, some of whom have to go work. They need to bathe in the mornings and evening, so I make five to six trips a day to collect water from various collection points. Even without running water, we still have to maintain our hygiene.
“But the costs are adding up. We buy prepaid electricity, so it takes more power to boil the water on the stove than using the geyser. It is also the same using the gas stove. The gas cylinder finishes quickly. We are not rich and cannot keep refilling.”
To save on costs, they sometimes boil water on an outside fire.
“But for how long are we expected to live like this?”
Leena Naidoo, 42, of Mithangar, said: “There are seven people in my family, including my elderly father-in-law and disabled daughter. It’s frustrating that we are not given a definite answer on when the water will be restored.
“Collecting water is emotionally and physically draining as you have to make about eight trips a day to the collection points. This means added fuel costs and we have had to buy multiple containers.
“We are, however, grateful to those who are assisting the community. We don’t know what we would do without them.”
Navin Panday, the chairperson of the Vishwaroop Temple’s board of management, said the premises was used as a water collection and distribution point in central Tongaat.
He said the Gift of the Givers, a disaster response non-governmental organisation, recently dug a borehole at the premises. However, the water is still being tested to determine if it is drinkable.
“Currently, we get 5 000 litres of water per hour from the borehole, which is being pumped into Jojo tanks. Residents can use the water for cleaning and bathing. Once we get the all-clear, then it will be connected to stand taps on the roadside.
“We also have 5 000 litre Jojo tanks on the premises which residents can fill from and use for drinking.”
Panday said generous people throughout KwaZulu-Natal had arrived with water tankers to fill the Jojo tanks. He said they also filled flow drums for those who delivered water in Tongaat.
Shabeer Suleman, the owner of Al-Namowa Import and Export, set up several Jojo tanks and flow drums on his business premises for people to collect water.
“We provide anything between 60 000 and 65 000 litres of water a day just from this point. We also have teams who distribute between 100000 and 200 000 litres of water to 13 schools in the area.”
Suleman said some businessmen also lent their privately owned tankers.
“If it weren’t for these guys, Tongaat would have been at a standstill. What the municipality could not do, the people have.”
Msawakhe Mayisela, the spokesperson for the eThekwini Municipality, said the floods had left a trail of damage.
“For the first time, the oThongathi Water Treatment Works was severely flooded. This has made it literally impossible for us to abstract water from Wewe River and purify it for consumption. We have been left with no option but to mobilise water tankers so that residents, at least, have clean drinking and cooking water.”
Mayisela said the city was exploring several avenues to restore water.
“One of them is to procure a 15Ml/ day package plant, while also trying to ensure that the mechanical and electrical work is undertaken to procure and install new pumps.
“The location of the package plant would have to be as close as possible to the actual water works. This will enable us to store produced portable water in the on-site reservoir and then pump it to the reservoirs. Water will be abstracted from the Wewe River as it was previously done.”
He added: “For the treatment works to be back in operation, the city will set aside R45 million. At this stage, we are unable to give time frames for the completion of the reconstruction of the facility. However, the work is likely to take 10 months or more because it also requires a full plant design.”
In a statement, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said its office in KwaZulu-Natal had registered its own initiative complaint in terms of section 13 (3) (a) of the SAHRC Act.
The commission said this was to investigate the current situation and to assess what interim measures had been implemented to alleviate the plight of all those affected.
“The SAHRC is extremely concerned about the impact of the disruption of the water supply and the length of time that the necessary repairs are expected to take.
“Section 13 of the SAHRC Act empowers the commission to investigate any alleged violation of human rights and to secure appropriate redress where necessary.
“The commission is therefore engaging with the eThekwini Municipality and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that immediate and appropriate intervention and assistance is provided,” read the statement.