It has been four days since the residents of Laudium, Iterileng and Claudius in Pretoria have been without water due to an empty reservoir.
Ward councillor Farouk Essop said tankers that have been dispersed by the Tshwane municipality to the areas were usually not enough to cater for the demand.
“Many residents have to travel to Erasmia to fill containers,” he said.
“They [residents] are now calling on the provincial and national government to urgently intervene.”
Essop said anger was mounting amongst residents and the response from the City of Tshwane has not been helpful.
“We were told this [yesterday] that the Rand Water restriction will be lifted. However, the taps are still dry.”
ALSO READ: LISTEN: Stringent water restrictions set in as levels continue to drop
“This is the third consecutive year that we are being targeted. The Hindu/Tamil community is celebrating Diwali and now they have to again face this crisis.”
He also questioned why his ward was every time being “targeted”.
“We are fed-up.”
Local activist, Yusuf Abramjee, said he was inundated with complaints from angry residents.
“I have asked the Minister of Water Affairs and the Premier of Gauteng to intervene. The City of Tshwane is not assisting. The blame is being shifted to Rand Water.
“Water is a basic human right.”
Schools in the area were forced to close on Friday.
Abramjee said the elderly especially were struggling and needed urgent interventions.
ALSO READ: Residents urged to use water sparingly
The Laudium Disaster Management has been assisting residents at water points, a gesture Essop and Abramjee welcomed.
“We salute them. They always come to the rescue,” the pair said.
The MMC for utility service Abel Tau yesterday warned residents that Rand water had implemented stage two water restrictions which will see among other things, the reduction of water pressure across Tshwane.
“With the current heatwave which has increased the demand, it has become imperative for Rand Water to implement furthermore stringent restrictions across the whole distribution network to try and curb the demand as the reservoirs are continuing to drop,” he said.
If water was not used sparingly residents would face outages.
He urged Tshwane residents and businesses to tighten up efforts of conserving water in order to ensure there was water for all.
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