Kinross residents want water
Protestors believe the municipality does not take them serious.
Water protests erupted at Thistle Grove in Kinross on Sunday night.
The protestors blocked the four-way stop at the intersection of the R29 (the old Leandra road) and the R547 from Kriel.
They accused the Govan Mbeki Municipality of false promises in dealing with shortages in the area.
“When we began to experience water problems some years ago, the municipality told us there was a problem with our reservoir that needed agent attention.
“We gave them a chance to repair the problem, but to date, nothing has happened. The crisis is worse than ever,” explained an angry resident of Thistle Grove in Kinross.
“The mayors keep changing, but none seems serious to fix our problem. They only talk about the water crisis in Bethal and eMzinoni.
Another resident said there was only water in the middle of the night.
“If you don’t wake up at night, you do not have water the next day,” he said.
The residents want their water crisis to be taken just as seriously as the other areas within the municipality.
“If there are water or electricity issues in eMbalenhle, the municipality attends to it because they know the residents will burn their offices.
“But look at us! They do not worry about our problems. They keep quiet. Our protest is peaceful and we only need water, nothing else.
“Instead of giving us water, they sent the police to shoot us with rubber bullets,” said a resident.
Nhlakanipho Zuma, the executive mayor, led the sod-turning for the upgrade of the Kinross bulk water pipelines earlier this year.
He said at this event, the area is experiencing water supply challenges due to high demand.
“Kinross has been experiencing interrupted water supply, especially Thistle Grove.
“The bulk line infrastructure is aged and cannot accommodate the demand, including the projected demand for the current and upcoming development within Kinross,” Zuma said at the sod-turning.
He said at the time that the project entailed the upgrading of two bulk water lines. The first is the 160mm AC pipe to 315mm uPVC pipe from the Rand Water connection supplying water to Kinross Town, the Ext 30 development and Thistle Grove.
The second is upgrading a 250mm PVC pipe to a 315mm pipe to supply water to the Ext 25 reservoir for water supply to extensions 25, 21, 22 and Marikana Section and other developments.
“This is a multi-year funded project, expected to be completed by October,” said Zuma during the sod turning.
He pleaded with the contractor to speed up the process as the Kinross water situation is dire. The community had a fierce meeting with the municipal leadership on Monday.
Zuma, together with the water and sanitation team, joined by selected members of the community inspected the Kinross reservoir.
They also met with the appointed contractor who will construct the water bulk line in Kinross.
