No water lands utility in hot water

Ward 27 Clr Lornette Joseph has taken Rand Water to task, with submissions to the Human Rights Commission of South Africa (HRCSA) to follow, because of the continual water interruptions that often leave taps dry for days.

On April 19, Joseph and DA PR Clr Nina McFarlane delivered a petition on behalf of the residents of Benoni to the utility’s head office in Glenvista, urging it to reduce the water interruptions in the area.

“The petition, addressed to Rand Water’s chairperson and the CEO, garnered 3 222 signatures,” said Joseph.

“In recent months, areas like Northmead, Airfield, Rynfield, Farrarmere, Farrarmere Gardens, Goedeburg, Morehill, Ebotse, Crystal Park, Cloverdene, Fairleads, Brentwood Park, Norton Home Estate, Northvilla, Rynfield AH and Benoni North AH have been without water for several reoccurring days.

“However, information and communication from the utility were not forthcoming. A resolution to these problems must be met.”

Joseph explained that the key reservoirs, Benoni 2 and 3 and Vlakfontein 1 and 2, were severely affected by the water interruptions and caused area-wide outages.

“These outages affected more than 35 000 properties, 20 old age homes and 17 schools that accommodate about 18 000 children,” she said.

“This petition was also submitted to the parliamentary portfolio committee on water and sanitation to ensure adequate attention was considered.”

The petition calls for urgent investigations into the following:
• The lack of communication and feedback as and when water outages occur or restrictions are implemented.

• Why the area is affected by so many lengthy water outages.

• Identify the factors resulting in the Benoni 2 and 3 reservoirs not filling to capacity or at the same rate simultaneously.

The petition also requested that Rand Water provide a long-term solution to the continuous water outages by ensuring the timeous delivery of water, in sufficient quantities, to the city’s reservoirs, thus ensuring the maintenance of adequate water levels.

The residents further requested that communication between the utility and Ekurhuleni Metro is timeous, allowing adequate time for residents to prepare and for water tankers to be deployed in the affected area.

“Since receiving the petition, there have been small but noticeable improvements to the water levels at the Vlakfontein 1 and 2 reservoirs,” she said.

“But with load-shedding stages five and six implemented, the water outages have worsened. In light of this potential humanitarian crisis on our doorstep, further submissions will be made to the HRCSA.”

With load-shedding an ever-permanent feature in our daily lives, Joseph hopes the petition will force the CoE and Rand Water to put the necessary mechanisms in place to ensure a stable water supply to the area.

“Adequate backup power supply at reservoirs and pump stations during load-shedding and power outages will prevent water supply levels from dropping to critical levels, thus ensuring an uninterrupted supply,” said Joseph.

“We, however, need more residents to support this petition and urge anyone affected to add their voices to this growing concern.”

For more information or to sign the petition, go to: https://www.petitions.net/petition_to_rand_water_on_constant_water_outages_in_benoni

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