Residents of Ward 16 have had their water throttled and shut off in the morning and evening due to a lack of maintenance on the Jan Smuts Reservoir. This is according to ward councillor Jaco Terblanche, who said this issue first occurred four years ago, spanning an eight-month period.
“The official reason from the municipality was that the Jan Smuts Reservoir was overflowing as the valves did not close properly.
“For the past two weeks, residents of Kempton Park Extension, Kempton Park Ext Two to Four, Aston Manor, Nimrod Park, Allen Grove and Glen Marais had been without water for the entire night.
“This was again due to bad infrastructure and ageing water pipes, which burst, leaving residents without water,” Terblanche said on Monday.
“These water outages need to be taken seriously by the water department, whether they are planned or unplanned. The South African Constitution is clear that everyone has the right to running water.
“Ward 16 has old age homes with frail care units, schools and businesses that need water. While we understand that maintenance needs to be undertaken, we believe proper communication needs to be sent to residents so they can properly plan.
“It’s important that we hold the water department to account and ensure proper maintenance of infrastructure for the benefit of all,” said Terblanche.
