Residents to march over ongoing Newcastle water crisis
A march is planned to address the current water crisis.
Newcastle’s ongoing water crisis has prompted community representatives, political parties and businesses to unite and declare that ‘enough is enough’.
Johan Pieters of the Newcastle Growth Coalition said taps in Newcastle West ran dry around September 13, with some residents going without water for more than 20 consecutive days.
At the time, Newcastle Municipality attributed the crisis to vandalism, Eskom and low dam levels.
“However, the actual cause was the failure of a main pump at the Show Grounds Pump Station — the only pump that was still operating,” said Pieters.
He added that this prompted the municipality to ‘urgently’ purchase a pump from out of town.
However, the pump was found to be unsuitable and had to be modified.
“More than a month later, some Newcastle suburbs still have no water,” he said.
He continued: “Reliable sources have confirmed that certain areas are now subject to water shedding, with no daytime supply and, at times, only a few hours of water.”
However, the municipality still maintains that no water shedding is taking place.
Petition gains thousands of signatures
The Newcastle Growth Coalition Chapter convened a meeting on Monday, October 19, where business representatives, political parties and members of the public discussed the water crisis.
“An online petition was also launched and attracted more than 1,500 signatures within two hours. To date, more than 3,500 residents have signed and commented on Newcastle’s water crisis,” Pieters said.
He urged the public to continue sharing and signing the petition, which is available in English and isiZulu at www.newcastlewater.co.za.
Pieters said there was some positive news on Monday evening when a contractor was instructed to repair the valves at Trimpark and restore the water supply.
On Tuesday, October 20, the forum invited other political parties and suppliers capable of helping to resolve the problem to discuss the water crisis.
Peaceful march planned for October 26
Pieters said the Newcastle Municipality’s failure to communicate with residents, along with the lack of communication from its leadership, had prompted the Newcastle Residents Forum to organise a peaceful public march on Monday, October 26.
He called on residents from Newcastle West and Newcastle East to join the march.
Residents will gather at Trimpark at 09:00 and march to hand over the petition signatures and the community’s demands to the Mayor of Newcastle, the Office of the Premier, KZN CoGTA and national CoGTA representatives.
“Copies of the memorandum and demands will be published on www.newcastlewater.co.za on Monday.”
“The leadership will be given 48 hours to restore water to all communities and provide a clear way forward. This crisis cannot be left for the new council to resolve.
“Let’s unite,” he concluded.
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
