Water insecurity a fait accompli for city residents

It is evident that residents of Polokwane will have to accept that no certainty of consistent water supply can exist until the city’s bulk water challenges are finally and adequately resolved.
In a most recent development, Democratic Alliance (DA) councillors in Polokwane Municipality, Frank Haas and Franco Marx announced that they were in the process of preparing a petition to the municipality to find an immediate solution for the situation. The petition is based on the constitutional right of citizens to have access to water.
Consumers in some areas in the city and surrounds experienced low water pressure and total shutdowns again last week and during the weekend due to the low levels of the city reservoirs and it appears that the municipality’s intervention to activate more than 200 boreholes all over the city has not yielded the necessary relief. However, on Monday, Polokwane Municipal Manager Dikgape Makobe said this intervention will allow the municipality to have better control over the distribution of water to the entire area of supply. “We will be able to detect when the supply from other sources are below demand and be able to augment the flow,” he explained. (See story elsewhere).
Communications and Marketing Manager of the municipality, Matshidiso Mothapo said the higher lying areas are most affected although some other areas also struggle with inadequate supply at times. Mothapo explained that, in order to provide pressure and flow to the higher lying areas as well, supply to the lower lying areas are throttled to allow a more balanced flow to the entire area of supply.

“Shortages were still experienced for a while as the reservoir levels had to pick up while residents were still using water at the same time and the rehabilitation of levels therefore depends on the usage,” Mothapo explained and added that water tankers are deployed throughout when necessary.
The situation was compounded later in the day when Lepelle Northern Water (LNW) had to interrupt water supply from Ebenezer Dam for three hours to allow for repairs to a burst pipe in the Boyne area en route to the city reservoirs. This incident put further strain on the reservoirs that were already very low and left residents of some areas without water again.
Water wastage is also a contributing factor to the situation and car washers are still found to be washing cars in the CBD, using water from fire hydrants and one of the car washers was caught red handed last Thursday while opening a fire hydrant with a tool to collect water for his enterprise in Grobler Street. Polokwane Observer brought the matter to the attention of the municipality and Media Liaison Officer, Thipa Selala later confirmed that officials had swept the area and tightened the valves of the fire hydrants to make sure it would bedifficult to open them with conventional tools. “We will maintain regular surveillance of the area and if the culprits are caught in the act, they will be charged because it is theft of municipal assets,” Selala assured.

Story: BARRY VILJOEN
>>barryv.observer@gmail.com
Photo: YOLANDE NEL
>>observer.yolande@gmail.com