The ongoing financial problems at the Merafong City Local Municipality resulted in taps running dry this week.

The problems started late Friday afternoon when some Carletonville residents complained about water pressure issues.

The problem was only identified at about 07:00 the following day. The main Rand Water pipe burst next to the R501, also known as the P111, between Carletonville and East Driefontein.

Although the water department superintendent informed ward councillors that Rand Water had finished the repairs at around midday, that was far from the end of the problem.

Taps in Carletonville, Fochville and Khutsong ran dry during the afternoon, and in some areas, the problems just got worse.

By Sunday, hundreds of complaints were streaming in on social media groups.

“There is not even a drop of water on Cobalt Street.

“No one can live like this! I have children. How must they bathe? Now I must go and buy water to flush my toilet. “This is pathetic!” was one of the many complaints.

However, it was only after opposition party ward councillors and residents repeatedly called the municipal manager, Mr Dumisani Mabuza, that he acknowledged that the municipality owed Rand Water millions.

According to a municipal notice, Merafong owes the water provider over R838 million. As a result, Rand Water planned to reduce the water supply to Merafong by 20 per cent.

But no one could explain why the water was cut sooner than the notice stated or why neither Merafong nor Rand Water had informed the public. Residents were furious, and some even tried, unsuccessfully, to organise an action to pay Rand Water directly.

Although the municipality organised tankers to deliver water to some areas on Monday, Carleton Jones High School and Hoërskool Carletonville, among others, had to let learners go home because of the lack of water.
On Monday afternoon, the municipality notified residents that the water supply would begin to normalise after it had agreed to pay Rand Water its current debt of almost R40 million no later than Friday.

It would also ringfence a portion of its equitable share from the national government for March to pay off the debt. It also promised to implement programmes to reduce water losses and strengthen its revenue collection and credit control. The municipality stressed that all customers should pay their accounts so that the debt will not increase. Luckily water had returned to most households by Wednesday morning.