Certain areas of Hazyview have been without water since June 8 due to the malfunctioning of the raw water pump station in the Sabie River.

The FF Plus councillor in the City of Mbombela (CoM), Ken Robertson, claimed the party had warned the municipality to have proper maintenance planning.

Residents and business owners in Hazyview were without water for nearly two weeks earlier this year, forcing some to use swimming pool water and buy drinking water. Now, as before, certain residents in the Vakansiedorp and Hazyview town area are again without water.
While residents and business owners are not entirely happy with the situation, they have welcomed the interim solution. Like before, they have requested that the CoM come up with a permanent solution to the situation.

”Vakansiedorp and Hazyview town are the hub of the local economy and the point of entry for popular tourism areas such as the Panorama Route and the Kruger National Park. We are currently experiencing power outages and now we have to deal with water shortages again. So we are pleading with the municipality to get the water supply right so that we do not lose business and our tourists can continue coming back,” they urged.

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According to the spokesperson for the CoM, Joseph Ngala, the latest water shortage in the Hazyview was caused by the broken raw water pump in the Sabie River. It has been sent for repairs. ”We have hired a mobile pump generator to, in the interim, supply water to these areas. Reservoirs are running very low and water is running out. We appeal to people to use water sparingly,” he said. Ngala also requested that the community members be patient while the CoM was attending to the problem.

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Robertson said they have regularly been calling on the CoM management to have a proper maintenance plan in place and back up available for use at the raw water plant. He maintains that it was not done and that is the reason residents continue to suffer from water shortages. “If they had maintained the plant, the water shortage would have been avoided. It is now the second time this year that the pump broke and residents and businesses have to suffer. However, I must also commend the municipality for how they handled the situation and their intervention, but despite the temporary solutions, we need a permanent one as residents are paying their rates,” Robertson said.