Editor – I have lived in Ladysmith all of my life. I have been living in the Aloe Park area for the last 40 years and I have never had reason to ever think of relocating to any other place until now.
This is not because I am unhappy with the town or its people, but it’s due to the extreme disgust that I now have for uThukela District Municipality and its useless mayor and management.
We have had water cuts since 2006 and have begun living as though we are situated on farms. We have to constantly have buckets and drums of water kept “in case the water gets cut”. Because it gets switched off without notification, be it day or night.
These water cuts are not only a major problem and irritatingly inconvenient, but also extremely costly.
Myself and numerous people in our street (and I am sure there are loads of other people as well) have had to replace their geysers due to this problem. Of late, myself and many other people have had to replace their toilet cisterns due to damages caused by the pressure of the water flow.
Who’s going to reimburse us for all of this? Honestly, now I am livid! I am now so fed up with this situation and I can tell you, so are many other people. This is intolerable!
What type of super-wonder water plant do we have that takes 14 years to get working. No other surrounding towns seem to have these type of problems. You are either just plain and simply dumb or just don’t give a damn. If you can’t do the job, get someone else who can! PLEASE!
uThukela District Municipality doesn’t bother or care that people have functions or that there are funerals in some homes – they just do as they please. Not everyone can afford Jo-Jo tanks and I don’t see why we should buy these tanks because we pay our water bills timeously for these very services.
Water services are disrupted at lease once every week in the Aloe Park area.
We get home from work on these hot summer evenings, wanting to shower and prepare meals for our families, but we cannot do any of these things. We are having to spend on take-out at least once a week because meals cannot be prepared at home.
Do you guys know or even understand how frustrating this is?
I have phoned the call centre whenever the water services are disrupted and the people don’t even know that the services have been shut down. They can never tell you what is the problem or what time the services will be restored.
Only God knows why they work there or what their jobs are. Of late, when you do phone the toll-free number, it’s continuously busy because they have taken the receiver off the hook. They don’t want to deal with the people or don’t care.
There’s only so much Mr Minesh Maharaj can do for the people of this town, because every time our services are disrupted, Mr Maharaj opens his doors of the Crown Hotel, allowing people to bath and shower without any cost implications. Enough is enough now! Enough of inconveniencing friends and families now.
Enough of buying water to drink because even when there is water, it’s so filthy that you simply cannot drink it. Enough is enough! Councillors, where are you when the people need your assistance? Come voting time, there’s all kinds of promises flying around, but when it comes to the crunch, you are all useless.
If you can’t help people with water supply, which is essential for living, then in my eyes you are all just talk and hot air.
God help you all when you come out canvassing during voting season. But the next time there’s a disruption in our water supply, as it was over the past weekend, I promise I will round up all the disgruntled residents from Aloe Park, including Gazza and Meena Place residents, and drive to Mr Mazibuko’s, Mr Khoza, Mr Kunene, Mr Khuzwayo, Mr Hadebe, Mr Sibiya, Mr Mbatha and Mr Glen Singh’s homes, where we will all shower and enjoy our evening meals with them and their families.
This I promise I will do.
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