These are the sentiments of Newcastle West residents who went almost two weeks without a stable water supply to their homes.

Suburbs including Ncandu Park, Amajuba Park, Barry Hertzog Park, Sunny Ridge, Pioneer Park, Amiel Park and lower Hutten Heights experienced a nearly two-week water crisis after an alleged pump failure at the Farmers Hall pump station.

Several explanations were provided by Newcastle Municipality, including Eskom maintenance, a broken pressure-reducing valve, a broken pump, vandalism and water not reaching the Northdown Reservoir for various reasons.

Residents march for answers

After 10 days, Ncandu Park residents had had enough of the explanations and decided to protest outside the municipal building.

Tensions quickly escalated, with the crowd storming into the building and disrupting a municipal meeting so the mayor could address the residents personally.

However, residents continued to experience water disruptions for several more days afterwards.

On Friday afternoon, residents gathered at Trim Park to once again march to the municipality and demand answers about where the water was and when normal supply would be restored.

Led by several Democratic Alliance representatives, about 60 residents took to the streets of Newcastle, demanding transparency, honesty and clear communication.

They also used the opportunity to raise concerns about the municipality’s failing service delivery and exorbitantly high municipal bills over the past three months.

Upon reaching the municipality, residents handed over a memorandum outlining the community’s principal concerns and the specific action requested from Newcastle Municipality.

The memorandum addressed concerns affecting residents across the affected wards, including the condition and reliability of municipal services, the maintenance of public infrastructure, municipal billing, incomplete projects, employment and housing matters, and the level of communication between the municipality, councillors and residents.

It further stated that, on Friday (September 25), residents in Ward 2, 4 and 5 still remained without normal water supply, with some households having gone for more than two weeks without water from their taps.

“This is no longer simply an inconvenience. It is a serious service delivery crisis affecting households, businesses and vulnerable members of the community. Residents need to know what caused the interruption, what is being done to resolve it, who is responsible for the work and when normal water supply will be restored.”

Residents stated that the absence of water had affected basic household activities, hygiene and sanitation.

It also placed additional financial pressure on residents who had to purchase drinking water and, where necessary, use additional electricity to heat or boil water for household and hygiene purposes.

“We therefore urgently request that the municipality provide affected residents with a clear explanation of the cause of the interruption, the corrective work underway, the responsible department or contractor, emergency water arrangements and a realistic restoration timeframe. Residents and councillors should receive regular and accurate updates until the matter is resolved.”

The community further requested that the municipality consider appropriate financial relief, credits or other assistance for affected residents who had incurred additional costs as a direct consequence of the prolonged interruption.

Residents seek written response

The memorandum went on to address several more issues affecting Newcastle residents.

Newcastle residents have requested that the municipality formally provide a written response within seven days.

They said the response should identify the responsible departments or entities, explain what action will be taken, provide realistic timeframes where possible, and communicate progress on outstanding matters to the affected communities.

The Newcastle Advertiser has approached the municipality for official comment, but none had been received at the time of going to print.

The news provided to you in this link has been investigated and compiled by the editorial staff of the Newcastle Advertiser, a sold newspaper distributed in the Newcastle area. Please follow us on Youtube and feel free to like, comment, and subscribe. For more local news, visit our webpage, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and follow us on our WhatsApp Channel.