Residents still without water in the South

LINMEYER – On Tuesday September 23, Paul and Elizabeth Geers of Michael Street, Linmeyer invited eTV to a residents’ meeting. Local councillors and DA members were also at the meeting as well as many residents of Linmeyer and South Hills.

John and Denise Thompson from South Hills said they have had no water since Friday at 18:00. “We have a more serious problem than what was originally anticipated and this problem won’t be resolved right away. If you look at the time it takes to fill a bathtub then imagine filling it five hundred thousand times. And that’s only one reservoir! There are eleven or twelve empty reservoirs which need filling now. We will just have to be patient and wait it out. The best we can do is locate the water tankers which deliver water and go and fill up bottles,” said John.

Anita and Wayne Mostert, also from South Hills are battling too. “We have been going to our family in Dinwiddie to have baths and fill up water bottles. It’s extremely inconvenient,” they said.

“I definitely think there’s more to this than we are being told,” said Colleen Vivian who lives on South Rand Road, Linmeyer. “How can we have no water but in The Hill residents have water. The smell of sewage is beginning to permeate the area and apart from this being a bad situation it’s also extremely unhealthy. We want answers not excuses!”

Earlier officials said the water problems affecting Gauteng should be resolved in a few days. Last week problems at Eikenhof Pump Station left parts of Johannesburg South as well as other areas, without water.

“With warmer temperatures there was more of a demand for water,” said Water Chief Operating officer, Sipho Mosai.

When power was back on at Eikenhof Pump Station, the Vereeniging Pump Station went down.

Mosai said, “The good news is, Vereeniging and Eikenhof are back on, but it will take time to fill the reservoirs, particularly those in high-lying areas that feed people’s homes.”

According to Louis Pieterse  (Johannesburg City Power executive manager of operations), a standby transformer for Eikenhof pump station had given trouble since it was installed late last year.

“So what time frame are we looking at for having water again?” asked Paul and Elizabeth Geers. “There must be underlying problems which we are not being told about.”

Another Linmeyer resident said they have been bathing in their swimming pool. “It’s not ideal but better than nothing,” he said.

At the residents meeting in Linmeyer, Ralf Bittkau, DA spokesperson on Water, spoke to the residents and then he spoke to eTV about the dilemma of no water.

DA Ward councillors, Dennis Jane, Sergio Dos Santos and Peter Stewart, listened to the residents’ issues but couldn’t give them any answers. “We don’t know the full severity of the situation but it does seem to be more of a problem than was first discussed. Residents want answers and they want to know when they can expect to get water again,” they said.