Byline: Kelebogile Masemola

18 July 2022

An “infrastructure failure” at the Rand Water’s Palmiet booster pumping station which has as a result left parts of Pretoria, including Soshanguve, without water this week has residents angry.

They stated the Tshwane metro had failed to inform them as to the reasons they were left without water since, Friday 15 July 2022.

Soshanguve resident, Kgaogelo Mashigwane from Block K, said they had not had water since Friday morning, and they were not given any warning that they would be without any water.

“On Friday morning, I noticed little amount of water was coming out of the tap when I was getting ready for work, and did not think much of it because we did not receive any kind of communication from the municipality concerning water interruptions.

It is when I got home from work that I heard complaints from my neighbours that our area had no water since morning.”

Mashegwane said the water interruptions have caused disruption to her family.

“We cannot cook, we cannot bath and cannot go to the toilet.

The whole of Soshanguve does not have water and that makes it difficult to go to nearby blocks with buckets to get water,” said Mashegwane.

Another resident from block L, Kefiloe Nchabeleng, said they have also been without water since Friday, and they did not receive any warning about possible water interruptions.

“The City of Tshwane does not respect us as their residents, we pay rent every month without fail because if you fail to pay rent they cut off their services, but what happens when it is the other way round? We have to understand, this is total disrespect.

They bring water tankers to designated areas which are far from our houses, have they considered that it takes immense strength to carry buckets of water, I do not think they even care.

I do not have a car, my kids are very young, I have so much laundry that needs to be washed, I cannot do any house work, what the metro is doing to its residents is very unfair,” said Nchabeleng.

The City said water levels at some of its reservoirs have plummeted after it received complaints of intermittent water supply from its customers.

Tshwane metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said as soon as the water utility, Rand Water, informed the metro’s water and sanitation department, the metro communicated on all platforms about possible water outages.

“The metro has not left its people deserted; instead we organized water tankers which are strategically stationed at areas where people can get water,” said Mashego.

Areas such as Ga-rankuwa, Mabopane, and major parts of Soshanguve remain affected.