
With all entrances to and exits from town barricaded with tree branches, drums and rocks, an angry mob in Chrissiesmeer either turned back or made frustrated motorists wait for more than an hour on Monday.
But the frustration of the motorists was nothing compared to that of both the Chrissiesmeer and KwaChibikhulu communities united in protest against the Msukaligwa Municipality.
The residents had gone without running water for three weeks and some had to resort to dangerous methods of getting water at a nearby unsafe and closed-off borehole.
Old and young, including children, were fetching water from a fenced area with broken gates. They were forced to ignore a clear danger sign on the fence and another bearing a notice that trespassers would be prosecuted.
Women did their washing nearby in groups, saying the area was unsafe. With them were school-going children who said the municipal water tankers hardly visited their area and they had to walk at least two kilometres twice or three times a day to fetch water.
Concerned people were also worried about the elderly who cannot walk to get to the water tankers, where collection turned chaotic at times.
On Monday, the residents decided act and get the municipality’s attention by barricading the N17, blocking all incoming and exiting traffic.
Sanco chairperson Ms Thabsile Motha said they were sick and tired of the situation.
“We don’t understand why we should fight first before the municipality listens to us. Nobody, including our own councillors, cared to communicate or explain what the problem is,” said the angry Ms Motha.
The Highvelder also spoke to a guest house manager who said the situation was negatively affecting their business.
“Recently we’ve been losing out on good business, especially over weekends where at least 10 guests cancel their booking or just leave early because of the water problem,” she said.
On average, they charge R350 a night and their 10 rooms are normally fully booked on weekends, with the result that they lose about R10 500 a weekend.
Members of the community vowed to continue protesting until their demands are met.
In response to the newspaper’s enquiries about the water problem, municipal spokesman Mr Mandla Zwane apologised on behalf of the municipality to the communities of Breyten, Cassim Park and Chrissiesmeer for the inconvenience caused by the recent water and electricity outages.
He explained that Chrissiesmeer and Breyten received water from the Torbanite Dam through a 12km, 250mm diameter AC bulk pipeline. In the past three months there has been a drop in the quantity of water coming from the dam. This resulted in high-lying areas in Breyten experiencing water shortage during peak hours.
According to Mr Zwane, investigation showed that, among other things, two submerged abstraction valves were floating in the air due to the drop of water in the dam.
“On the weekend of 17 June, the 250mm diameter bulk pipe burst and on 25 June the pump supplying water to Chrissiesmeer separated from the supply pipe and worsened the problem in Chrissiesmeer. The 250mm diameter bulk pipe has been fixed and the submersible pump/valve has been submerged in dam. We expect that the water supply will be restored to normal as soon as the network and reservoir are full,” Mr Zwane concluded.
The 250mm diameter bulk pipeline
has since been fixed; the submersible pump / valves has been submerged in dam.
we expect that the water supply will back to normal soon once the network and
reservoir are full.