Land invaders are stealing our water, Mams residents say
“We are blaming the people who connect water illegally and the ones who recently invaded land next to the reservoir.”
Illegal water connections to the Mamelodi reservoir 4 are to blame for the area’s current water woes, residents claim.
This was as the problem of dried-up taps and low water pressure, which affected the whole of Ikageng extension 3 last year, was spreading to other areas in Mamelodi.
And now, learners at the Emasangweni primary school in Phase 4 have been hit by water shortages.
Worried parents blamed the Tshwane metro for not fixing the water crisis in Mamelodi.
Parent Johannes Seduke says he believes that the illegal connections to the reservoir’s water pipes are the main reason for the persistent outages.
“The problem actually started two years ago,” he said.
“Now, our schoolchildren are forced to carry at least two water bottles to school every day for hydration while teachers who have cars ferry water buckets to school,” said Seduke.
Other areas in Mamelodi such as Mahube Valley, Mamelodi East Phase 3 and Phase 4 are also experiencing similar water shortages.
“We are sending our children to school while we go to work. And when our children are sent back home because there is no water, who is going to look after them?” he said.
He said life without water is very difficult.
“Where can our children go when they need to use the bathroom?”
Some of the learners have already started using nearby bushes because the toilets are not functional.
“The Department of Education and the municipality must act fast to sort out the issue. Everyone is suffering. Both learners and the community,” he said.
Another resident and parent at Emasangwni primary school, Nomsa Masombuka, said: “We are blaming the people who connect water illegally and the ones who recently invaded land next to the reservoir.”
She said the school has two water tanks, “but still the metro fails to send trucks to fill up the tanks for the learners to have water at school”.
“This water shortage crisis is an emergency. It must be addressed as soon as possible. We are suffering without water,” said Masombuka.
“When there is a funeral in the area, we use a lot of water for cooking and sanitation. We are forced to buy water with our own money whilst we are paying for service delivery.
“We are being billed too much by the municipality for water, and yet our taps are dry.
“We won’t allow our children to suffer like this and miss out on their education because of water problems.”
Ward 17 councillor Pinky Lelaka helped organise water tank trucks for the school on numerous occasions.
He agreed that the situation must be dealt with as soon as possible.
In September 2021, the metro water and sanitation department led an operation to remove illegal connections at the Mamelodi reservoir 4.
This operation came after complaints by residents of Mahube Valley, Ikageng extension 4 and 5, who had been experiencing a prolonged water outage.
The water outage has led to businesses such as car washes closing.
TMPD was present throughout the operation as artisans had to be protected while detaching an illegal water conduit.
The metro also secured the reservoir chamber where the illegal connection had occurred with steel plates to make breaking in difficult.
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