12-day water outage leaves Silverton community furious
Residents said they feel abandoned and forgotten after being left without running water for two weeks turning their daily lives into a struggle and raising serious sanitation concerns.
Residents in Silverton are fuming after being left without water since the last week of May.
Being without water for over 12 days in parts of Silverton has left he community furious over the metro’s lack of communication.
Certain areas in Silverton were already experiencing water outages in the days leading up to May 29, when Rand Water’s planned supply interruption for maintenance began.
While most of the area had water restored after the work concluded on June 2, several streets have remained without supply, leaving taps completely dry.
The residents said they feel abandoned and forgotten after being left without running water for two weeks, turning daily life into a struggle and raising serious sanitation concerns.
Residents in Joseph Bosman and Smarag streets remain without water, even though supply was restored in most of Silverton.
They say communication has been vague and the issue has been escalated multiple times, but it is yet to be resolved.
“It’s not just about water, it’s about dignity and survival,” said Duan van den Berg.
“We can’t bathe, can’t clean, and it’s freezing cold. Some residents are healing from surgery. How are they supposed to clean wounds in this state?”
Van den Berg said he and others have reported the issue repeatedly, but with no solution.
“We even checked every shut-off valve ourselves with a private plumber. Still no answers. It’s emotionally draining and unsafe, especially for the elderly carrying buckets.”
He said basic sanitation is being compromised.
“Toilets can’t flush. Dishes and laundry pile up. Women on their menstrual cycles can’t maintain proper basic hygiene, while families with children and pets are struggling to cope.”
Van der Berg said it is a health emergency.
“We pay our rates, yet we are treated like we don’t matter. It’s inhumane.”
Resident Chantel Nel said her pet reptiles rely on water.
She said the stress has become unbearable.
“It’s gone from inconvenient to unsustainable. We are spending more money on fuel and electricity to fetch and boil water, and our bills are going up.”
Ward Councillor Pieter van Heerden confirmed the issue stems from malfunctioning pumps at the Moreleta water tower.
“The reservoir isn’t feeding enough water to the tower, leaving some areas completely dry,” he said.
“We are working on managing flow to refill the tower, but it will take time.”
Van Heerden said replacing the broken pumps is now a priority, though no timeline has been provided.
By the time of publication, the Tshwane metro had not yet responded.
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