Desperate residents of Pienaarspoort informal settlement in the far east of Mamelodi are up in arms over lack of water provision in the area.
Residents have accused Tshwane metro of supplying water tankers to nearby settlement of Skierlik, but not to theirs.
“We are tired of walking long distances to get water. We will hijack the trucks driving past our area to deliver water to permanent stands,” some of the residents said.
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Resident Lebogang Mashole said trucks delivering water to Skierlik would be “directed to go to our squatter camp and pour water for us before going to Skierliek”.
“We have been staying at Pienaarspoort since 2016. Some of us were renting backyard rooms and were kicked out because of inability to afford rent,” residents said.
Other residents said they had been on the waiting list for RDP houses for a long time.
Mashole said like any other informal settlement all they wanted was “basic service delivery”.
“In Pienaarspoort our only challenge is water and without water people will die of thirst,” she said.
Some residents said they had to buy water for R200 from the water delivery trucks that are going to permanent residents of Skierliek.
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Residents said they had submitted a memorandum in November last year to the previous mayor’s office to complain about lack of water, sanitation, electricity, proper roads and the purchase of land they were occupying.
The metro reportedly responded on 11 January promising to meet with the leaders, “but we have since not heard any word from city officials”.
“All we want is water for our community because water is life and it is free,” said residents angrily.
“Residents are suffering,” said Mashole.
The company responsible for delivering water apparently told the residents to build water tanks for easy delivery.
Residents collected money and built water tanks, but not a drop has been delivered.
“We are also residents of Tshwane and deserve to be treated equally,” Pienaarspoort residents said.
Tshwane metro was yet to comment at the time of going to print.
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