Water woes raise residents’ hackles

PARKVALE residents gathered on Sunday to express their frustrations about the non-availability of water in the residential area and to raise concerns about the Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM) not sticking to the water-cut schedule.

Those in attendance also complained about the municipality not communicating with them about cuts and that ward councillor Ongama Adonisi was not known in the area.

Adonisi said he had not been informed about the meeting on Sunday even though he was on a WhatsApp group with the community members.

He said he had been to the municipal offices to lodge a complaint about the water situation in Parkvale, but was told that water levels were low.

Resident Cliff Pringle said he was “sick and tired” of the ill-treatment by the municipality and understood that the water issue affected everyone, but fair treatment was needed.

“We are ratepayers but we are treated as though we get this water for nothing. No one tells us anything here, we just see things happen. On Friday we only had water in the morning and it was dry until Monday. No one warned us or assisted with the provision of water trucks.”

The meeting heard that the problem had been dragging on for months and yet, despite a lack of water, the Chris Hani District Municipality was billing them for “exorbitant amounts” for water usage.

Resident Enver Genade said he had received a R1 900 water bill for January but there was hardly ever available water. He said it seemed they “thumb sucked” the accounts.

Ursula Redcliffe said the onus was not only on the municipality, community members also needed to play a role and use water sparingly.

“I have seen people filling up swimming pools, watering their gardens and washing cars with hosepipes but they will be the first to complain when there is no water.”

CHDM communications officer Lonwabo Kowa, responding to queries from The Rep last week, said Komani was heavily affected by the drought and resultant water shortages. Reservoirs were under a lot of strain with the water pressure too low to provide enough water to the area.

The community meeting decided to give CHDM a week to respond or face protest action.