POLOKWANE – The Polokwane Municipality says their water and sanitation team has already, from Tuesday night, been attending to dirty water coming out of taps in the Seshego area.

Municipal spokesperson Thipa Selala spoke to the Polokwane Observer after inquiries were made regarding a video doing the rounds on social media showing muddy water coming from a tap in the Luthuli Park area.

In the video, a woman can be seen opening the tap and questioning whether the dark brown, muddy water is sufficient for consumption.

“Can you drink this water?” she asks in Sepedi.

The video was also shared by the EFF leader Julius Malema who states “the whole of Seshego is affected by water problems”.

The whole of Seshego is affected by water problems, and incompetent common drunkards lead the Municipality. Sies, wake up Kasi ya ma Kasi.✊🏿 pic.twitter.com/4VsGaIcPNQ

— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) October 11, 2023

Selala says the municipality assessed the water infrastructure and found that some of the valves supplying Luthuli Park, Legae la Batho and surrounding areas were closed for a prolonged period of time.

“Once the valves were opened, the affected areas experienced dirty water coming out of the pipeline. The water and sanitation team is flushing the lines and normal water supply has been restored to those affected areas,” his statement read.

However, despite the municipality saying that normal water supply has been restored, many residents say the water is still brown or that they don’t have any at all.

In a poll done on Review-Observer’s WhatsApp groups, 41% of participants said their water remained brown, while 46% said they had no water at all.

The Seshego community have been, for months, pleading with the municipality to attend to water shortages in the area.

In September, residents blocked the Seshego Circle in protest of a signalised traffic intersection project, stating that the R32m grant meant for the upgrades should rather be used to complete the wastewater treatment plant in the area.

In May, the Mayor John Mpe confirmed that the long-awaited completion of the Seshego Water Treatment Works is set for three months as the project stood at 90% completion by May 11.

It is yet to be completed.

Mpe said the multi-million rand project, on which progress resumed on April 14, had been delayed because of various reasons, including the contractor requesting a variation order that is 20% above the permissible amount as per municipal policy, which council could not approve of through normal processes, Mpe said.

Read more: Seshego waterworks to be completed in 3 months

Meanwhile, the city of Polokwane continues to struggle with low reservoir levels due to stoppages at both the Olifantspoort and Ebenezer Plants respectively.

Earlier on Wednesday, the municipality said reservoir levels are showing no improvement and is as a result of ongoing repairs.

“The Ebenezer plant experiences power outages at least four times in a week for six hours per day. The latest report from the Greater Tzaneen Local Municipality is that repairs are expected to be completed by the end of October,” Selala said.

He added that should residents continue to experience episodes of dirty water issues, to report to the municipality so that the municipality can attend to the challenge.

The numbers are as follows:

• Municipal Call Centre: 015 290 2000 / 015 023 5000
• Dedicated Water and Sanitation Helpline: 015 290 2376
• WhatsApp: 068 290 8736