It’s either muddy water or no water for suffering residents in Deneysville

Instead of getting clean potable water from their taps, several residents of Refengkgotso in Deneysville, Free State have been getting brownish muddy water for some time now.

The Citizen has been inundated with calls from disgruntled residents that fear for their health over the dire water situation.

Upon arrival at the area this week, The Citizen was greeted with faces of anguish and fatigue from residents who have been forced to carry or push heavy buckets of water on wheelbarrows for long distances.

While some who are still lucky to be getting water even though its dirty and pose a health risk, a large section of the area has had no water at all for more than a month.

WATCH: Muddy water comes out of taps in Refengkgotso

“I am forced to walk for approximately two hours to go and fetch water daily using my wheelbarrow,” said Jabu Dladla.

“It is really not easy for people my age to do this daily but its not like one has any other choice but to take the long walks twice a day because we cannot live without water,” the 60-year old Dladla said.

He said residents have not been getting any clear communication from the Metsimaholo Local Municipality about really has led to the water crisis they are facing.

Dladla called on the authorities to treat their water challenges as a matter of urgency.

The area falls under the Metsimaholo Local Municipality, which is led by the Democratic Alliance (DA) through a minority government.

ALSO READ: DA’s Jeff Zwane elected new mayor of Metsimaholo after resignation of EFF mayor

Thembi Radebe says walking long distances to fetch water has become the new normal for her and other residents.

Radebe carries two 20 litre buckets while carrying her child on her back. She does this while her other two children are at school.

She says it would be unfair for her to wait for her other children to return from school so they can fetch water.

“I don’t want to be seen to be torturing my children who, when they come back from school, still need to sit down and do their homework.

“This water problem is not something new as it has been going for many years but the recent problem of not having water at all has been going on for more than a month and there has been no communication from the local municipality about what they are doing to fix this problem,” said Radebe.

The Refengkgotso area is about six kilometres away from the Vaal Dam, which in the recent summer rainfall was overflowing, prompting the authorities to open a number of its sluice gates.

Effects of water shortages on businesses

Businesses in the area have also been adversely affected by the water woes.

Salon owner Junior Mabunda says he is also forced to go and fetch water at a communal tap so he can make sure his business stays afloat.

“I have been losing a lot of money ever since our taps started to run dry more than a month ago, and what makes matters worse is also the never-ending load shedding which we experience twice in one day.

“There are times when customers come to the salon and find that there is no water and as a result we are forced to turn them away,” Mabunda said.

Responding to the concerns raised by residents, the municipality’s mayor Jeff Zwane admitted that the is inadequate water pressure in the area, as well as muddy water running out of residents’ taps.

Zwane said the water challenges started around 2008, stressing that load shedding has exacerbated the situation.

ALSO READ: Load shedding: South Africans face cold, dark winter with no end in sight

What’s being done to address water shortages?

“We are providing water tankers to assist in the interim and we accept that there might be some areas that are very far where people are unable to access the water trucks and we are doing everything possible to address the issue.

“I am also in communication with deputy minister of the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), David Mahlobo, giving him a technical report on the situation in Refengkgosto as well as with the department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) for further assistance,” said Zwane.

Muddy water

Zwane said the dirty water coming out of taps is caused by sludge at the water reservoir.

“We are currently working on removing the sludge at the reservoir because whenever it is low, that’s when the water looks bad. Hence we plan to shut down the reservoir for now while the cleaning work commences.

“We have also contracted a company that will be replacing valves at the reservoir and the service provider will also be installing new water pumps,” Zwane said.

Asked if there has been instances where water pumps were damaged as a result of load shedding, Zwane said it has happened on a number of occasions.

“We would like to extend our apologies to all affected residents and I must add that this situation should have been sorted out a long time ago… we should have closed the reservoir a long time ago to remove the sludge,” Zwane said.

Zwane says the situation was not always as bad as it is now, stressing that load shedding made things worse as they did not have generators installed.

“While we are waiting for the installation of generators to happen next week, we are also in consultation with Eskom in an attempt to get an exemption from load shedding,” Zwane added.