Mams water supply restored after five days

No more running around chasing water trucks and going to streams to fetch water to wash, use for toilets, and bathe for residents of Mamelodi.

The Tshwane Metro announced on Wednesday evening that water supply to the majority of areas that have had no water for a few days had been restored.

The dire water shortage left many Mamelodi residents chasing trucks delivering water and putting their health at risk by using water from the streams.

Jackson Mafurumela of Stoffel Park in the far east of the township said standing in long queues waiting for water was not going to solve his situation.

He said going to the nearby stream to fetch water to bathe, wash clothes, and use the toilet was the solution for his family.

Mafurumela said he had to stand up and do something, because “when the water truck arrives, it’s chaos”.

“People fought over water, and others waited for trucks on street corners to get water first before the trucks reached their destinations,” said Mafurumela.

He said staying in the far east was worse, because the trucks were stopped before they could reach their destination.

Residents were seen fighting for water in Mamelodi East, Extension 5, Stanza Bopape Community Hall, as well as in the furthest outpost of the township, including places like Skierlik.

However, water issues were nothing new to residents of Mahube Valley, Phomolong, Extension 6, and Ikageng extensions 4 and 5, as their taps have been dry for almost four years.

These were affected by illegal water pipe connections at the Mamelodi reservoir, which led to dry taps or reduced water pressure for years.

Walter Mabasa of Ikageng, Mamelodi East, said he couldn’t recall the last time he saw a single drop of water, yet the metro billed him R3 400 for water usage for June.

“We had been without water for four years, and every day it’s a struggle,” he said.

Mabasa said the metro is not taking residents of Mamelodi seriously.

“We are running up and down almost every day searching for water. My water tap is dry, and it’s been years, and we have been complaining to Tshwane Metro about a shortage of water in the area,” said Mabasa.

Metro spokesperson, Selby Bokaba, said after a prolonged period of about five days of dry taps in Tshwane due to Rand Water’s maintenance of its infrastructure, the city is pleased to announce that water supply has been restored to the majority of the areas.

He said Tshwane has observed a gradual but impressive improvement to the reservoir levels in a few areas where supply is yet to be restored.

Supply has been restored to areas fed from Rand Water’s Mapleton system, and the areas supplied by Willows pumping as of Wednesday afternoon.

Bokaba said once the reservoir has reached a healthy level, water will be distributed to households in the area of supply.

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

Tshwane experienced a water outage following Rand Water’s infrastructure maintenance work on its Mapleton System that took 77 hours.

“This exercise started on Friday, July 26, and ended on the morning of Monday, July 29,” said Bokaba.

He said during that period, there was no pumping from 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.

Tshwane, like other metros in Gauteng, receives 79% of its bulk water from Rand Water’s two booster pump stations, Mapleton and Palmiet.

Bokaba added that Rand Water has to first replenish its own reservoirs fed from the two systems before they can begin to distribute water to their municipal customers.

It 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.”

He further said the areas that are still without water will continue to be serviced by water tankers.

The deployment of water trucks is being co-ordinated through the affected ward councillors.

The city is aware that some areas supplied from the Palmiet system, such as Atteridgeville, including Kalafong Hospital and surrounding areas, are still without water and it is providing tankers to mitigate the water outage.

“The city is pleading once more with residents in the low-lying areas to use water sparingly when the supply is restored to allow our bulk water system and reservoirs to recover quickly.

The city apologises for the inconvenience caused by this planned water supply interruption,” said Bokaba.

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