PIENAAR – Water issues are continuing with people in various communities expressing their deep unhappiness with their lack of water provision. Mr Simon Maluleka, resident from Pienaar, explained that they had water in their pipes in homes about two days a week.
Maluleka was busy filling up water containers from a polluted stream in Pienaar, down the hill from the reservoir that supplies the area with water. He explained that this family store and use the tap water for drinking, and resorted to carrying water from the stream for cleaning purposes as it was not fit to drink.
Mr Richmond Jele, spokesman for Sembcorp Silulumanzi which is responsible for distributing water in the area, said Sembcorp is dependent on the availability of bulk water, which is controlled by the Bushbuckridge Water Board (BBWB).
“Sembcorp Silulumanzi is only restricted to distributing the water from the reservoirs to the community. A reservoir can only have water if the water has been pumped in or supplied from the Water Treatment Works based in KaNyamazane and currently operated by BBWB, as the bulk supplier,” he explained.
Jele also confirmed that the formalised township of Mataffin Farm will receive water from Sembcorp as soon its current project, which is underway, has been completed. He said affected residents must pay the agreed required deposit of R2 700, which may also be paid in installments of R45 per month for those households that cannot afford to pay the full deposit in one installment for the water to be supplied.
Outside of the project, Mbombela Local Municipality (MLM) was responsible for water provision. Mr Joseph Ngala, spokesman for Mbombela Local Municipality, did not comment on the reasons for the holdup of water provision.
