Large parts of Pretoria without water

Due to vandalism and cable theft at the Palmiet pump station, Rand Water is unable to supply water to most of the suburbs in Pretoria.

According to Selby Bokaba, spokesperson for the Tshwane metro, the water situation should be back to normal by late Tuesday night.

“The Palmiet pump station feeds the entire Gauteng system, which supplies water to the City of Johannesburg, the City of Ekurhuleni and the City of Tshwane,” he said.

Affected Pretoria reservoirs include Pretoria 1, 2 and 3, Rooihuiskraal, The Reeds, Laudium, Akasia, Magalies, Constantia Park, Waterkloof, Lotus Gardens, Soshanguve, Mabopane, Ga-Rankuwa, Atteridgeville, Pierre van Ryneveld and Monumentpark.

“Non-affected reservoirs include Elarduspark and Garsfontein,” Bokaba said.

Fred Nel, DA spokesperson, said during the past two weeks residents have had to endure days without water and, at times, electricity, while local municipalities, metros, Eskom and Rand Water ‘pointedly refused’ to accept responsibility.

He said the DA calls on Gauteng Premier David Makhura to launch a commission of inquiry into factors causing the water supply crisis.

“The so-called ‘perfect storm’ of cable theft, blown transformers, stationary pumps and poorly maintained infrastructure, highlighted the vulnerability of Gauteng’s water and electricity supply network – without which the entire economy will grind to a standstill,” he said.

Nel pointed out that the lack of backup systems and contingency plans increases the province’s vulnerability, and the reasons why none have been implemented nor put in place require investigation.

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.