Water crisis deepens
RESIDENTS of Tongaat (oThongathi) have been without a proper water supply for two weeks. Parts of Reservoir Hills have also been without water for several days.
The situation has been aggravated by a lack of sufficient water tankers supplied by the eThekwini Municipality, according to residents.
Jay Lovey Govender, secretary and spokesperson of the Tongaat Ratepayers Association, said there had been intermittent supplies since November, but the disruptions worsened recently.
“In the last two weeks, we have areas that go without water for five days, in others, two days. Some residents get water for an hour. There is nothing concrete on when the water will stop or when it will start.
“Something is amiss and no one is explaining it to the community. What is sad is that the Muslim community is observing their fast for Ramadaan. They have to wake at 3am to visit the mosque. They need water and there is no water.”
Dolly Munien, ward councillor for the area said: “Service delivery of repairing metre leaks and burst pipes is on a slowdown which only creates ways for major bursts (and) leaks to occur. Once these leaks are not repaired, the reservoir starts to lose capacity and it runs low or gets emptied.
“Residents are upset and frustrated as now their bills have increased drastically, yet for months they have not had a stable water supply in their taps. Elderly residents are also upset as they have to carry water from far places.
“The municipality doesn’t have enough tankers to send out and we have to rely on private companies like VenkPac, owned by Ricky Naidoo, who have graciously served our people through these tough times.”
In a statement Msawakhe Mayisela, spokesperson for the city, said there had been an interruption of water supply in parts of Tongaat supplied by the Emona and Metcalf reservoirs. The affected parts include Vanrova, Metcalf, Ghandi Hill, oThongathi Central, Plein Street, Watson Highway, Brake Village and the oThongathi CBD.
“The interruption is due to failure of the pumps to fill these reservoirs. Technical teams are working to repair the pumps however, the damage is severe. As a result, the two reservoirs have an inadequate supply of water resulting in intermittent water services to both reservoirs.”
He said technicians on site at the Metcalf reservoir had identified leaks which were being repaired as and when they were discovered.
Mayisela added that water tankers had been dispatched.
Meanwhile, parts of Reservoir Hills have been without water since Saturday.
Alicia Kissoon, the ward councillor, said water tankers from the municipality were sent intermittently and were not enough to cover the area.
Affected roads included Kies Avenue, Sternhold Avenue, Whittaker Avenue, Mountbatten Drive, parts of Varsity Drive, Plumstead Avenue, Umgudulu Road, Maharani Terrace, Mountbatten Drive and six further side roads.
Kissoon said residents were desperate and that Venk-Pac had assisted with tankers.
“They even offered to fill residents' Jojo tanks and flow bins to ensure water security in streets.”
Naidoo, owner of Venk-Pac, said his Verulam-based plastic packaging company was supplying water to communities in need daily.
“We have our own borehole and filtration system which we use to assist communities such as Reservoir Hills, Tongaat and Isipingo. We have four water tankers that carry 12 000 litres of water each. We also have smaller vehicles that assist with supply as well.”
Ameeta Singh, a pensioner who lives on Varsity Drive, said she had even escalated the matter to the presidency.
“I have written to the Premier’s office, the city manager and the SA Human Rights Commission. We cannot be living like this. We are law abiding, rate-paying citizens of this country who deserve to have their basic needs met.
“We need water for medication, to shower and use our toilets, to cook and for basic hygiene. We can’t afford to keep buying water. As an elderly woman, I should not be carrying buckets to fill water from tankers. We are so vulnerable,” said Singh.
Ish Praladh, the chairperson of the Reservoir Hills Ratepayers Association, said the ageing infrastructure of pipes in the area needed a complete overhaul.
“That is the real issue. It is not merely burst pipes within the area, but rather the infrastructure itself, which is at least 40 years old.
‘When you put new infrastructure on top of old infrastructure, you are simply putting a plaster instead of doing proper surgery.”
Praladh said he was assisting the elderly citizens of the area by delivering water to them directly.
“We are taking care of our own community and refuse to wait for the municipality to get on board before we act. The residents have had enough.”
At the time of publication, the municipality had not responded to queries about Reservoir Hills.