Residents of Merafong towns such as Carletonville, Fochville and Kokosi struggle increasingly without water
The municipality continues to fail to reach an agreement with Rand Water over its outstanding account.
An increasing number of residents were struggling without water this week due to Rand Water choking the supply to our area, due to the Merafong City Local Municipality’s ongoing failure to pay its outstanding account.
The problems have worsened to such an extent that Carletonville Hospital said on October 22 that it is experiencing a water shortage, which is linked to the ongoing water supply problems throughout the Merafong City Local Municipality.
“Carletonville District Hospital is currently experiencing water supply challenges due to ongoing municipal water outages, which have placed significant strain on our central water pumps,” says the hospital’s communication officer, Matabo Letsoalo.
He says that, unfortunately, one of the hospital’s pumps ceased functioning overnight, resulting in a limited water supply to the main hospital building.
“The matter has been urgently escalated to the Gauteng Department of Health Infrastructure Management Unit (IMU), which has appointed a service provider to repair the damaged pump. We sincerely apologise to our patients, visitors, and staff for the inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience and understanding as we work diligently to restore normal water supply as soon as possible. Our teams are doing everything possible to minimise disruption to hospital operations and ensure patient care continues safely,” he added.
Residents, however, complained on social media that the hospital was still without water.
“The hospital does not even have water to wash or bathe patients. My sister, who is in the hospital, has not bathed in three days,” a Carletonville resident complained on social media on October 24. On the same day, almost all the Kokosi residents taking part in the protest against the municipality said that they did not have water. They say that some areas have had no water for the past three weeks. By Monday, October 27, residents in various areas complained that they still did not have water. On this same day, a local councillor from Carletonville, Carl Steenekamp, indicated that Rand Water has rejected Merafong’s proposals to have the water supply restored.
The DA, meanwhile, was pressing the National Treasury to withhold grants again until Merafong settled its outstanding Rand Water account.
