Parts of city without water for days with no answer from municipality

POLOKWANE – Four days and counting: residents in the high-lying areas of the city have been without water after the reservoirs that supply water to the city dropped to levels of as low as 10%.
The areas affected include Bendor, Flora Park, Serala View, Seshego, and Ster Park.
“I live in Bendor and we have been without water since Friday. I have to use water from my swimming pool for the toilet and have to shower at my friend’s house,” one resident said.
A resident from Serala View also confirmed that they had been without water since Friday.
“There is a water tanker that comes to supply water. They hoot for everyone to come and collect water. My main concern is the toilets. There is no water to flush the toilets and we have small children who do not understand there is a water crisis; if they need to use the toilet, they need to use the toilet. The municipal number for water and sanitation is also useless because there is no answer when a person calls,” the resident said.
Linda Kruger, principal at Osieteddies Kleinkindontwikkelingsentrum, said during this most recent water crisis they had to ask the parents to bring water to the school.
A primary school in Bendor make use of borehole water, but this is not enough.
One of the teachers said: “We have 1 100 learners at the school and our borehole water is not enough to accommodate everyone. The municipality promised to send a water tanker to offer relief.”
Schools in the Flora Park area confirmed that they were not affected much by the water crisis because they had boreholes.
Business owners in the affected areas said the water crisis was bad for business.
Linda Wentzel, owner of Lapaz Hair Studio in Bendor, said closing her doors was not an option, so she bought water in order to keep her business running.
Bernice Visagie from Dental Studio in Bendor said they had to cancel a lot of their appointments because of the water shortage.
“This is very bad for our business and totally unacceptable,” Visagie said.
Hannes Willemse, owner of Nguni Pub and Grill in Bendor said the municipality should sort the problem out urgently because the water crisis was bad for his business. “There is no water to flush the toilets, and we need water to cook our food. We have to go and ask for water from people we know who have boreholes, in order to keep the business running,” Willemse said.

The current reservoir levels are as follows:
• Krugersburg 50ML reservoir – 4%;
• 30ML reservoir – 0%;
• Potgieter – 22%;
• Extension 34 – 95% and
• Seshego – 7%.
Asked when residents would have water, the municipality could not answer.
Tidimalo Chuene, a municipal spokesperson said: “The municipality cannot say for how long this will continue because load-shedding is a major contributor. However, water tankers will continue to be provided to areas that are affected.”

The water tankers are available daily from 06:00 until 21:00 and the points for distribution of water through tankers are:

• Flora Park – Corner of Boshoff and Suid Street, corner of Sour Plum and Boshoff Street, corner of Witeria and Camelthorn Street, corner of Mohlopi and Wild Olive Street, and corner of Van Marle and Katjiepiering Street.
• Serala View – Corner of Viper and Crocodile Street, corner of Rattlesnake and Puffadder Street, and Tortoise Street.
• Sterk Park – Corner of Apollo and Vega Street, corner of Hector and Polaris Street and corner of Ekwator and Taurus Street.
• Bendor – Corner of De Wet and Bendor Drive.

“Lepelle Northern Water (LNW) has indicated that load-shedding is contributing to low reservoir levels because they have to stop pumps for two or more hours at the Ebenezer and Olifantspoort plants.
“The municipality is continuously engaging Eskom in Lebowakgomo on load-shedding and how it is affecting water sources. LNW has promised to open two pumps after storing more water and to reduce flow to other areas so that we can have more,” Chuene said.
DA ward councillor, Frank Haas, confirmed that load-shedding contributed to the problem.
“Water is pumped by several pumps in a series and if load-shedding shuts down one pump, it affects the rest and the whole system is off.”
Chuene added that the municipality would continue to explore means and partnerships that could help provide sufficient water supply to the city.
“The (015) 290 2376 is experiencing a high call volume, water and sanitation numbers that can be used are (015) 290 2375/2376/2377,” Chuene said.