International human rights laws state explicitly that access to safe, affordable and reliable drinking water and sanitation services are basic human rights.
Residents of Tesselaarsal, however, were left without running water for nearly two weeks. Load shedding further exacerbated the problem.
Their water woes, say the community, first started on Friday 13 January when the pump at the only bore-hole supplying water to the small village, ceased working. A new pump was reportedly installed approximately 12 days later. Some residents, especially those living in the high lying areas, had to wait several hours, others a day or two before their water supply was restored.
Kobus le Roux, a local resident, say it is inexplicable and unacceptable that it took more than 10 days to repair or replace the pump. “There were rumours that the company that had to repair the pump wasn’t paid and, as a result, refused to release it,” he said.
“Then a new pump was installed. When I went to the site with the property owner’s permission (the site is not on municipal property) to ask questions, they called the police and threatened to arrest me because they claimed I was harassing the workers.”
What also leaves them seeing red, is that Theewaterskloof Municipality allegedly has no contingency plan in place to prevent something similar from occurring in future.
Trucks delivering water to the community, said the residents, were also badly organised with nobody informed about the times and points where they could collect water.
Sharné Arnold feels the amount of water residents got from these trucks is insufficient. “How can they expect people to survive with only a few litres of water per day,” she asked.
Her opinion is that an in-depth assessment needs to be done so contingency plans can be put in place should something similar occur in future.
“A lot of us are questioning the municipality’s capabilities and interest level to solve this problem,” she added.
Trying to get answers from the municipality about these issues, they say, has been largely futile. Two meetings between residents and TWK municipal officials were held last week. Residents have since also elected a forum that will represent them in discussing their gripes and concerns with the municipality.From three bore-holes with pumps and reservoirs to one
Residents say the village had three bore-holes and reservoirs before a huge storm in 2014 caused wide-spread damage, leaving them with only one working pump and bore-hole.
“Since then the population has grown exponentially but we still have only one third of the bore-holes and pumps we had in 2014,” said Le Roux.
Ettienne de Kock, a local resident, says he was left flabbergasted when the municipality reportedly refused an offer by him and another former resident to repair the damage at one reservoir known as Rooiwaterdam after the storm.
“They gave no reason for this decision,” he said. “Being without water for so long has had a huge impact on the town, especially the older people and children. A large part of our community relies on their vegetable gardens for food but they haven’t been able to water it.
“After the 2014 storm I had a water tank installed so when something like this happens I can at least flush the toilet. Many others weren’t as lucky and had to do their business in the bushes. That is inhuman.”
The most important thing now, said De Kock, is for the municipality to start being pro-active instead of reactive and to get the water infrastructure to the same level as before the storm.
“If this new pump packs up, we will be in the same situation. An extra pump as well as a generator in case of load shedding are what is needed to ensure we have a constant water supply in all areas,” he explained.
The municipality made a number of posts regarding the matter on its Facebook page. A post on 25 January stated that water had been reinstated to the most parts of the village. On 29 January it stated the “reservoir has reached 87% required capacity” and the water supply to all households in Tesselaarsdal had been restored.
Community representatives were set to meet with senior officials of Theewaterskloof Municipality on Monday. At the time of going to press the outcome of the meeting was not yet known.
