Moreleta Park NGO eases water suffering

The AfriForum Moreleta Park branch provided over 35 000 litres of water to residents and old age homes in need during the large-scale Rand Water maintenance that saw taps run dry in Tshwane.

This act of kindness and generosity helped ease the burden of water scarcity for many people in the east of Pretoria.

Taps in large parts of the city have been dry since the weekend due to Rand Water’s planned maintenance of its Mapleton and Palmiet Water Systems.

Branch chairperson Dewald la Grange said just after two weeks of setting the emergency water point, over 1 000 residents were given water.

“Barely two weeks after we set up this emergency water point in this Pretoria suburb, efforts have been made to alleviate the pressing water shortage currently affecting the city’s residents.”

The Moreleta Park emergency water point is located at the Woodglen Complex on Rooigras Street, Waterkloof Glen.

“To efficiently assist the public in drawing water, the water point is open daily from 17:30 to 19:00.”

La Grange said the civil rights organisation has two tanks of 10 000? capacity each for emergencies.

“So we had 20 000? in the tanks filled by borehole water. The residents came to draw water, and some were aided by the water truck.”

He said the branch also delivered water to old age homes.

“We have made provision to assist the old residents of our community through delivering and relieving three old age homes that were in serious need of water,” he said.

He said the water point is open daily for residents still experiencing water shortages.

“Though the water utility announced earlier that the extensive repair work had been completed, it also warned on its Facebook page that it may take one to three days for water supply to be fully restored to low-lying areas. It may take even longer in high-lying areas.”

La Grange said on Sunday water was also delivered to residents of the Bronberg Retirement Estate in Olympus.

According to Sampie Steinberg, regional head at AfriForum, the water shortage in the city was not yet over.

“Though the public was informed of the planned repairs and many were able to make the necessary preparations, a prolonged period in which the taps run dry is a crisis in any household.”

Steinberg said the entire city is currently suffering due to the acute water shortages and it may take several more days before the water supply is fully restored.

“This situation highlights the need for emergency water points and the Moreleta Park branch will continue to provide this essential support to the community to help relieve the pressure,” explained Steinberg.

He said residents still in need of water can visit the emergency water point, as in some areas it might take a while for water to be fully restored.

Inquiries regarding the emergency water point can be directed to the Moreleta Park branch chairperson, Dewald la Grange on 081 566 7578.

https://x.com/CityTshwane/status/1818700296954007659

Tshwane however in a statement said after a prolonged period of about five days of dry taps in Tshwane due to Rand Water’s maintenance of its infrastructure, water supply had been restored to the majority of the areas.

Supply has been restored to the following areas fed from Rand Water’s Mapleton system:

– Parts of Mamelodi
– Olympus
– Mooikloof Ridge

– Lynnwood
– Equestria
– Murrayfield
– Meyerspark
– Waltloo
– Silverton
– Eersterust
– Brummeria
– Menlyn
– Villieria
– Waverley
– Parts of Faerie Glen
– Wapadrand
– Kilner Park
– Eastlynne
– Jan Niemand Park
– Nellmapius
– Silver Lakes and surrounding areas
– The Willows

Tshwane on August 1, giving an update on the water outage, said the Laudium Reservoir was on the way to recovery, while Atteridgeville was still at less than average level.

“The team is giving the reservoir undivided attention in terms of monitoring is fixed on the facility. Residents are informed that the Palmiet system is in recovery mode after the maintenance work that was completed on Tuesday night,” it said on its X social media platform.

Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba said the metro was aware that some areas such as parts of Atteridgeville, Kalafong Hospital and surrounding areas were still without water.

Bokaba said water tankers were being provided to mitigate the water outage.

“Pumping at the Elardus Park Reservoir which supplies a few areas, such as Constantia Park, Garsfontein, Garskloof, Moreletapark, Rietvallei Park, Rietvalleirand, parts of Waterkloof, Waterkloof Glen, Wingate Park and Erasmuskloof, commenced at 16:30 this afternoon (July 31). Once the reservoir has reached a healthy level, water will start to be distributed to households in that area of supply.

The city is closely observing the reservoir levels and pumping will resume earnestly in other outstanding areas that are still without water.”

Bokaba said Tshwane experienced a water outage following Rand Water’s infrastructure maintenance work on its Mapleton System, which took 77 hours to complete.

The exercise started on July 26 and ended on the morning of July 29.

“During that period, there was no pumping to the Mapleton System. This left various areas in Regions 2, 3 and 6 without water, compelling the city to dispatch water tankers to the affected areas.

It is important to note that Tshwane, like other metros in Gauteng, receives 79% of its bulk water supply from Rand Water’s two booster pumping stations, Mapleton and Palmiet,” he said.

“Rand Water has to first replenish its own reservoirs fed from the Mapleton and Palmiet Systems before it can begin to distribute water to its municipal customers.

This process can take up to two weeks for the network to fully recover. This, however, doesn’t imply that water supply will be restored in two weeks’ time.”

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