‘Ugu dying of thirst’
Some schools had to be closed because of no water.
WATER (or the lack thereof) makes the headlines again this week, just after Ugu celebrated supplies being restored to Uvongo where households were mostly dry for nearly three weeks.
Now it’s Port Edward, Ramsgate, Southbroom, Albersville and Protea Park that are suffering.
Port Shepstone Secondary and Jai Hind Primary even had to send pupils home yesterday (Wednesday)… for the second time this month.
“Try running a school with several hundred pupils when you can’t even flush toilets,” said a teacher.
Angry callers to the Herald said there could now be little doubt that the South Coast was in ‘crisis’.
“Apologies and excuses about ageing pipes aren’t going to cut it any longer,” said one resident. “We want a detailed plan of exactly what is going to be done,” said one businessman.
“The South Coast is already battling economically. We will die as a holiday destination if we continue like this.”
A Southbroom resident said her water supply had been on and off for the past two weeks.
“When you call the Ugu call centre there is no answer or, if you are lucky enough to get someone on the other end, they just plead ignorance,” she said.
Residents in other areas like Umtentweni also complained of intermittent supplies or ‘filthy water’.
Another resident said he really felt sorry for the technicians who were sent out to do the work.
“They obviously have to bear the brunt of the anger and it’s not their fault,” he said. “It’s the people at the top who have to do something. If they can’t handle it, they should ask for help from Province or even the Government.
“Whatever they decide, Ugu needs to keep the community properly informed as well as of what they plan to do in the long term.
“Don’t just leave it up to the poor ‘spokesman’ either. We want to hear directly from the top… and even the leaders who were voted in.”
Ugu spokesman France Zama said the municipality was aware of the water interruptions affecting the Albersville area. He said this was due to a break in the main pipe from the Boboyi Water Treatment Works.
“The Ramsgate and Southbroom areas are also reportedly encountering water interruptions due to an outage on the main feed to Seaslopes. Currently, the system is building up and normal water supply is expected to be reinstated before the end of the day,” he said.
Technicians were deployed to the affected sites and were working flat out to solve the problems.
“The municipality apologises for any inconvenience,” he said.
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