Hammanskraal residents say taps dry, few water tankers

Residents of Hammanskraal in the north of Gauteng get limited water from tankers and none at all on some days.

The Temba reservoirs that supply water to Hammanskraal have been unstable since 2016 and have now reportedly had no water for more than a week.

This was after the City of Tshwane announced the temporary shutdown of the Temba water treatment plant on October 24.

“If the raw water quality has improved, the plant should resume operations within the next seven to 10 days,” the City of Tshwane said in a statement.

“To ensure water provision to the residents, the city has arranged with Magalies Water to increase the pumping capacity into Babelegi reservoir.

“In addition, roaming tankers were dispatched to supply residents with water until the situation normalises.”

The crisis has subsequently affected healthcare in the area, with Jubilee Hospital closing its surgery theatres due to hygiene concerns.

According to a resident, they have complained several times and staged service delivery protests. Four years after the city promised to change the situation, little has been done.

“The situation is bad, and I feel very bad for preschool children who have to carry water to school,” said the resident.

“Where are they going to get water because even the trucks that provide water are unreliable?

“Patients in Jubilee Hospital are suffering, nurses are working in an unhealthy environment, wards stink and another department cannot function at all.

“Jubilee mall is messy and smells very bad and we have to wait for days for water tanks to provide water, but it is not even clean most of the time.”

Hammanskraal resident Lisiba Boya said they had learned to live without water. “The water crisis is not new. We have had this problem for the past two decades.

“This is a personal matter for me.

“In my area [Marokolong] we have never had clean water and we would go months without water in our homes and schools,” Boya said.

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