Empty! Krugersdorp runs dry – again

Residents of Mogale City will not be pleased to hear that the city has run out of water – again.

Mogale is empty – in capital letters. A word our community has gotten well used to in the past few days following Rand Water’s planned shutdown to commence maintenance. Even though the maintenance was completed on July 14, many residents are still without water and are just asking for a few drops to make food and wash their faces.

• Also read: #WaterShutdown takes its toll: Water aid in Noordheuwel and surrounds

In a statement from Mogale City Local Municipality (MCLM), it was said that since the completion, water has only been restored to certain areas – with some residents seen washing their cars and watering their gardens. At 11:30 on July 17, MCLM announced that the city’s reservoirs were empty – again.

The Dan Pienaar, Munsieville, Kenmare, and associated systems are all empty, while the Kagiso reservoir is at 1.3m, requiring time to build up levels to at least 1.8m to 2m, allowing for water pumping into the system – expected by 14:00 today. This means that certain areas of Kagiso that are not served by the Kagiso reservoir may begin to get water. Water trucks filling up at water network points are also empty.

• Also read: WATCH: All the water drama in Mogale as taps remain dry

“With minimal availability of water tankers and water tanker extraction points, most water tankers are filled in the Muldersdrift area. Once Muldersdrift stability and readiness have been confirmed, the municipality will prioritise water supply to facilities such as hospitals, clinics, and old age homes.”

Former mayor Tyrone Gray, however, released a statement saying that the current executive received a 21-day notification from Rand Water relating to planned 58-hour maintenance before the July 11 commencement.

“Unfortunately, and in the uncaring style of puppet mayors, entire suburbs of Mogale have run entirely dry. This is exemplified by a quote by Helen Keller, ‘The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision’.”

Ex mayor Tyrone Gray had the following to say:

He added that Mayor Danny Thupane knew of the potential water crisis and failed to communicate or craft any contingency plans to assist the community.

“The communications sent out were copy-paste exercises without personalising and localising solutions proposed for Mogale City residents.”

• Also read: Full restoration after shutdown to take several days – municipality

On July 14, the council convened and Gray said that not a single report was tabled for approval regarding the service delivery interruptions, especially regarding the planned maintenance.

“Under the multi-party coalition government fleet assets such as 12 water tankers were procured for 2022/ 2023 since Mogale City previously was dependent on contracted services. Even with additional assets, the current executive is unable to plan adequate scheduling of tanker deployment, instead choosing a haphazard approach, indicative of their lack of leadership and incompetence.”

He said it was heart-wrenching to watch residents and especially the elderly from Kagiso to Krugersdorp, Munsieville and Muldersdrift, all suburbs and townships suffer because of the ‘lackluster and absent leadership imposed by the ANC and EFF for a mayor who 99.4% of Mogale City didn’t vote for’.