Shortage of water supply sparks fear
“Without water, the residents are forced to come out of their comfort zones in search of water forgetting that the country is currently on lockdown to avoid the spread of coronavirus”
Residents of Mamelodi East extension 11 fear the informal settlement is fertile ground for Covid-19 pandemic.
They claimed their area was congested because neighbouring residents had come after experiencing water shortages in their areas.
Musa Sethwape, a resident said the government was telling them to stay home to avoid the virus but due to a lack of service delivery, the residents were forced to come out of their homes to fetch water.
He said because of the shortage of water in extension 11 RDP, Lusaka, phase 5 Skielik, “they were forced to come into our informal settlement to get water from the Jojo tanks”.
“Without water supply, the residents are forced to come out of their comfort zones in search of water forgetting that the country is currently on lockdown to avoid the spread of coronavirus,” said Sethwape, adding that the residents stood in long queues forgetting about social distancing.
Sethwape said he feared one resident carrying the virus will spread it to hundreds of people in the area.
He said all this could be avoided if the Tshwane metro sorted out the water supply issues.
READ MORE: Covid-19: Pta informal traders to apply for special permission
“The community is scared for their lives they believe the government might be trying to experiment with them and spread the virus around, they say because they are poor the government wants to treat them like lab rats,” said Sethwape.
Sethwape said residents were also forced to share two portable toilets per street block.
“Our health is at risk because the portable toilets need to be cleaned now and then but, in our case, we wait for weeks for them to get cleaned,” he said.
“We desperately need sanitisers to clean the toilets because everyone in the area is forced to use them.”
He added that they waiting weeks for the people to empty the toilets.
Former local ward councilor Morwangwato Mantjane said he is aware of the water shortage and said the problem was that two water supply pipes in Mamelodi East burst at the weekend.
“The residents need to be patient because the waster is still available,” said Mantjane, adding that the metro would supply more portable toilets and JoJo tanks.
Mantjane said he had also written a letter to the metro to alert it to the shortage of sanitisers.
READ MORE: “Real” threat of Covid-19 in informal settlements
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