Fines await residents who do not adhere to water restrictions

MALALANE – The call for residents to use water sparingly has seemingly fallen on deaf ears as they continue to misuse it, and is now forcing the Nkomazi Local Municipality (NLM) to put stricter measures in place.

This is despite numerous requests from the municipality urging locals to use water sparingly. However, residents continue to water their gardens and wash their vehicles amid the drought which has led to the town being left without water at some stages, and NLM imposing water restrictions.

Water levels have improved but are still critical, according to municipal spokesman, Mr Cyril Ripinga. “All the efforts which have been put in to improve the situation have reaped positive results, however, the situation is still very bad. And we strongly need people to work together with us in sparing water,” Ripinga explained.

However, some residents who spoke to the paper explained why they continued to use water as regular. According to one of them who spoke on condition of anonymity, this was a service which they were paying for.

“Of course I am concerned by the reports that the water level is continuing to drop, but we are paying for water services and it would not be fair for us not to expect this service to be delivered. Whether we use less water or not, at the end of the day we are going to pay for it.”

The resident furthermore added that officials should have planned for this as they were warned long before it happened. “It was reported that experts recently warned that South Africans urgently need to change how we use our water resources. So there has been more than enough time for officials to have come up with a way to prevent it.” However, Ripinga has informed Corridor Gazette that NLM will issue fines for failure to comply. “We will be sending out law-enforcement officers, who will be issuing fines to those households which are failing to use water sparingly at this crucial stage.”