EDITOR – I have thought long and hard about replying to the letter in your last week’s edition (13 May) by Jenny Bosch, but feel that too many sleepless nights have forced the issue. Ms. Bosch has evidently read my letter completely out of context, and, in so doing, has labelled me, in essence, as inhumane.
My gripe about not being informed about the water restrictors being installed but the fact that we ‘privileged city dwellers’ pay for the water we use and so it is only fair that we are forewarned. Being pensioners, we already use as little water as possible, and my complaint about the time it takes to get the hot water geyser on the garage roof running before you can take a shower is by way of saying we are, in fact, using the same amount of water, but taking longer to achieve the result.
I am well aware, and have been for months, that this drought has hit hard, and give one example of seeing the people in the village above the Shongweni Dam (now not in use) waiting patiently with their large plastic containers, evidently for the water tanker to arrive. Northern Zululand has been badly hit – in fact, the whole country is in dire straits – and we prayed last weekend that the torrential rains would improve conditions, but sadly to no avail.
Unfortunately, there are many illegal connections being carried out, and some people who know how to bypass their meters so that they can use precious water illegally when they want, and then are able to reconnect when they are done. I don’t know what the answer is, except to fine people who use too much water, but, as I have said, water restrictors are really not the answer. As an afterthought – why cannot the water in Shongweni Dam be used? If it’s yellow…
Jenny Lee
Westville
