Municipality denies water-shedding despite daily cut-offs
The municipality has denied the water cutting schedule, despite the daily cuts.
The Newcastle Municipality has denied claims that certain parts of town are on a water-shedding schedule.
This came after, Democratic Alliance Ward 4 Councillor Bertie Meiring informed residents last week that daily water cut-offs would now become a daily occurance between 09:00 to 15:00 and then again between 21:00 and 03:00.
He explained that although water was being pumped at maximum capacity, the reservoir was still not filling to capacity.
For now, he said the municipality will close the water supply lines to Hutten Heights, Amiel Park and the lower parts of Pioneer Park daily.
Municipality says schedule is fake
The Newcastle Municipality, however, refuted these claims, stating that it had noted with serious concern a fake water supply interruption schedule circulating on social media.
The municipality insisted that the schedule was fake and had not originated from the municipality.
“No such water interruption schedule has been approved or issued by the Technical Services – Water and Sanitation Department, and residents are urged not to share this misleading information,” it stated.
It further noted that legitimate water interruptions would be communicated only through its official channels.
“The Municipality strongly warns trouble-makers and those spreading misinformation that creating and circulating false information causes unnecessary panic and is a criminal offence in terms of the law.”
The municipality added: “The municipality is investigating the source of this fake schedule and legal action will be taken against those responsible.”
Residents say daily cut-offs and week-long outages are their reality
However, the reality is that residents of Hutten Heights, Amiel Park and Pioneer Park were reportedly left without water daily between 09:00 and 17:00, and again between 21:00 and 04:00.
The municipal response outraged residents, who called for transparency and accountability from municipal officials as the water crisis worsened.
Making matters worse, residents of Upper Signal Hill reportedly went without water for seven days.
According to the Newcastle Municipality, the disruption was caused by a faulty pump at the Milky Way pump station.
In an official statement released on 17 October, the municipality said the faulty pump had caused the disruption and that its technical team had been sent out to carry out emergency repairs.
However, resident Marilze Greyvenstein claimed the disruption had been ongoing for six days before the municipality acknowledged the problem or even investigated the fault.
Greyvenstein confirmed that the water supply was finally restored on Sunday evening, 19 October, after seven consecutive days without water.
“Ncandu Park residents are once again at the centre of the water crisis, having reached their fourth day without water by Monday afternoon,” she said.
This followed a brief period of just three or four days with a water supply after residents had previously been left without water for almost two months.
“Residents are at their wits’ end and deserve transparent communication from the municipality regarding the ongoing disruptions,” she said.
Greyvenstein is calling for a detailed explanation of what has gone wrong, why it is taking so long to resolve the problem and what action is being taken to restore the water supply.
In the meantime, a petition has been created and is being circulated among residents to capture the full impact of the current water crisis.
Residents are urged to sign the petition, which will be handed over to the municipal management to ensure action and accountability.
Visit https://newcastlewater.co.za/ to sign.
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