RESIDENTS of Verulam are feeling hopeless, fast believing that they are a forgotten community as their taps continue to run dry.
With new national and provincial governments of unity being elected and “progress” reports of repairs to infrastructure currently under way, the residents of Parkgate, Trenance Park, and Dawncrest, among other affected areas, have lost hope that their water supply would be fully-restored any time soon.
While some residents have an intermittent supply, others have not had piped water since last year.
The POST visited some of the affected areas this week and spoke to residents – some with tears in their eyes, as they described their struggle to get water and becoming reliant on tankers, JoJo tanks and boreholes.
Ivan Surajpaul, a resident of Parkgate, said homes on several roads, including upper Heathrow Avenue, School, Edenglen and Meadowlands roads, had not had piped water since August last year.
He said the community had come together to get two JoJo tanks – one of which had been donated.
“Not everyone can afford to purchase a JoJo tank, so we have placed it on one of the roads, where people collect from. There is also a tanker that parks-off and residents fill-up from it everyday. But it is strenuous, especially for those without vehicles, to walk with their filled buckets and bottles back to their homes over several trips a day.
“It is also frustrating that after reporting it to the eThekwini Municipality water department, nothing is being done. We have had protests and even attended a community meeting with the Minister of Water and Sanitation earlier this year. After that, water trickled through our taps for a day, giving us hope, and then it stopped. It is not fair,” he said.
Anne Govender, 36, of Parkgate, said she was tired of having to push a wheelbarrow filled with several buckets and bottles of water, collected from the tanker every day.
“My husband is at work during the day, so I have no option but to do it, or we will not have water. However, I was in an accident and suffered injuries to my head, shoulder, ribs and legs. But no matter how much pain I am in, I still have to do it for my family.
“There are days I cry thinking. I feel the pain of the elderly people in our community who I see carrying heavy buckets.
“It is also frustrating that other areas get water, so why can’t we? We don’t mind if there is even water-shedding and we have water for an hour or two a day in our taps.
“I have school-going children, and it is a struggle. I have to wake up early to boil water on the gas stove or use the element bucket, but that uses a lot of electricity – which makes our bills go higher. I just want to be able to open my tap again and have water.
“But, I am not sure if we will ever get water in our homes again. It hurts that promises are made that water will be returned but it’s all false hope. It has been months, and we feel as if we have been forgotten,” she said.
Remona Jagadao, 45, of Parkgate, said the water outage had affected residents’ well-being.
“I can count how many times we had water in our taps this year. Having to carry 20-litre and 25-litre buckets filled with water up a steep driveway is painful. My entire body hurts. We are a middle-class family, and filling up JoJo tanks and purchasing drinking water is financially draining.
“We are feeling pain that we never felt before. One must walk in our shoes to be able to know what we are going through. The people are frustrated and losing hope. But I want to be optimistic that with our new government, we will see change. We were told that our vote can make a change, now we want to see it happen,” she said.
Rajendra Lala, 64, of Parkgate said being without water was a major inconvenience.
“Before I go to work in the morning, I have to fill my bottles at the JoJo tanks, so I can have a bath, but with very little water in order to save. Furthermore, if I don't fill in the morning, then by the time I get home in the evening, the JoJo tanks will be empty as many people rely on them.
“I also have to collect drinking water at my workplace or go to my daughter's house in a different area. It has become very difficult to live in such conditions, but we have no choice. There have been promises of repairs to the infrastructure and that we will get water, but I will only
believe it when I see it,” he said.
Deon Govender, 44, of Trenance Park, said for the past decade residents have been facing water challenges. However, it had worsened in recent months.
“We used to get water in our taps, even though it was erratic. However, since the floods a few years ago, it worsened to the point where we are lucky if it comes on for a few minutes.
“I live on the upper part of my road, so even when there is water in the area, it is finished before it reaches my home. Sometimes we will get it for about five minutes, but just a slight trickle, which is not enough to even fill half a bucket.
“We get tankers, but I am a heart patient and the strain of carrying those buckets and bottles is taking a toll on me. I have had three heart attacks and am scheduled to have a bypass. After collecting water, I struggle to breathe and have to lay down as I feel dizzy.
“People have died in our area while collecting water and I don't want to become another statistic,” he said.
Anwar Dawud, 53, of Trenance Park, said they get water in their taps after three or four days.
“To make matters worse, tankers are only allocated to the roads if they have
not had water for more than three days. We are asked to fill up for a few days, but we are limited with the intake of water when tankers do come.
“It is a great challenge as water gets depleted very fast because of the number of people in our household. Having an elderly person and a small baby in the house has become quite challenging with the water issues. Going to work without water has become tiresome, as well as sending the children to school.
“We do not have water to drink and basic hygiene is compromised which is making us sick,” he said.
Rishi Maharaj, 63, of Dawncrest, said some parts of the area were recently without piped water for 17 days.
“But when it came back on, it was just for a few hours and then went off again. We get water for no more than an hour, but the pressure is slow and we can barely fill enough to last a day.
“I have had to purchase a JoJo tank, but it costs me about R600 to fill it. I have to fill it at least two or three times a month.
“I also have to buy drinking water. I am a pensioner. How do I afford this?
“We are also afraid to go out and collect water from the tankers, which
usually arrive in the late afternoons. There have been many incidents of residents, especially the elderly, getting robbed when they open their gates to go out or while walking to and from the tankers.
“We can no longer live like this. We are hoping that the new government of unity will now focus on addressing the service delivery issues, as well as crime that has spiralled out of control in communities,” he said.
Roshan Lil-Ruthan, spokesperson for the Verulam Water Crisis Committee, said the city appeared to be attempting to paint a positive picture of progress, but there were some clear issues that needed to be addressed.
“The residents of Verulam and the surrounding suburbs deserve reliable and consistent water access. The city must take decisive action to rectify the failures and delays in this critical infrastructure project.
“The community's patience has been tested for far too long, and they rightfully demand a swift and satisfactory resolution to this ongoing crisis.”
The POST