Still no water for Bedfordview residents for over 10 days
Bedfordview residents are still dealing with a silent Rand Water on why their taps have been dry for almost 2 weeks.
As South Africans prepare to commemorate the upcoming Human Rights Day, Bedfordview residents face a harsh reality that undermines one of the most fundamental human rights – access to clean water.
March 17 marked 11 days of residents, businesses, and institutions struggling with no water outages, a basic necessity.
On March 14, CoE Mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza and the MMC of Water and Sanitation, Thembi Msane, did an oversight visit to the Signal Hill Reservoir in response to the prolonged outages affecting the area on Rand Water’s G2 line.
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The visit was because of a lack of clarity or communication from Rand Water, which had sent senior inspectors to do pressure testing, but no officials were there to provide answers.
According to the CoE, Rand Water attended to an urgent water leak on March 7. After completing the repairs, the utility struggled to restore the water supply to the city’s Signal Hill Reservoir, resulting in a shortage of supply from the utility.
“We thought we must come and see for ourselves what is happening because of the prolonged water outages.
What is worrying is no reply from leadership because we did indicate that this has gone beyond normal. I mean, communities over a week without a consistent water supply,” explained Xhakaza.
“We think it now requires various escalations to get some action. It has to be a technical issue that can easily be attended to in our view,” he added.
Msane said, “We appeal to the leadership of Rand Water to come and properly explain to our people because we cannot leave our city without water for the next seven days.”
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Before the site visit, the city’s spokesperson, Zweli Dlamini, had told the BE News that the city had implemented measures to address the ongoing outages in the area.
He reiterated the city had initiated a project to replace asbestos cement pipelines in Ward 20, which includes Bedfordview, Bedford Gardens, Senderwood and St Andrews.
“The city approved the inception report, and the preliminary design (PDR) stage is underway. The CoE received a copy of the first draft PDR for review and comments on March 7.
“We anticipate the report will be approved by March 31, after which the detailed design stage will start,” said Dlamini.
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In the meantime, the water supply has remained disrupted, with no clear indication of when it again will flow from taps.
The CoE says it has requested Rand Water to give the public regular updates, which it agreed to do.
Ward 20 Clr Jill Humphreys, also part of the inspection and site visit, said, “It is frustrating that we just do not get any information from Rand Water.
“Something confusing and concerning is that we have had intermittent outages from the water supply.
“Ekurhuleni can only distribute water if it is given. If we are not given the water from Rand Water, we can’t distribute it,” she shared.
“This has been happening over and over. In previous such sessions, the utility found a way to bring the water back. But this time, they are not. We don’t have any idea why.
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“Nobody talks to us. This is the greatest concern. They need to sharpen their pencils and find out what is going on,” added Humphreys.
Bedfordview Primary School offered help with water to the public and the Belgravia Bowling Club.
In the meantime, a team was established to assist the elderly, sick and disabled with water deliveries, and the city has provided water tankers.
By the time of going to print, Rand Water had not replied to the media enquiry forwarded to them.
