RESIDENTS of Spring Valley informal settlement in Emalahleni have to sift through dead animals and human waste to get water from a spring.
Every day hundreds of residents gather at the spring and use plastic containers to collect water for their homes.
Sometimes dead animals are found dumped in the spring, making the water dangerous to consume but they use it anyway.
Emalahleni is one of the four municipalities that were fingered in the SA Human Rights Commission's 2013 report for violating the rights of their citizens by failing to provide water.
The report was tabled after the commission investigated four municipalities and one education department on whether they complied with regulations to supply water and sanitation.
But it does not look like much has changed for residents like Veli Makhanya.
"We just remove the animals and collect the water. We then boil it or use bleach to purify it at home," said Makhanya.
He said water tanks that the council dispatches to the community are not reliable.
For the past 15 years Emalahleni has been grappling with severe water shortages, aging water infrastructure and high manganese contamination at Witbank Dam.
These challenges reached crisis point in 2013, which is also when the council was put under administration.
The municipality experiences at least eight pipe bursts a day, which puts more pressure on the supply.
The administrator, Theo van Vuuren, said the municipality needed R4-billion to get maximum water supply to its population of 400000, of which 86% rely on municipal water.
Residents of Spring Valley and Empumelelweni rely on both water tankers and the spring while those living in suburbs buy bottled water.
Thulani Manana has been living in Spring Valley for 11 years and shares a small shack with five others. They survive on 80 litres of water a day.
"Water is not enough. We skip a day without bathing just to save the little that we have. Water trucks are not reliable, especially on weekends. Sometimes we are forced to use spring water and the water there is dirty," said Manana.
The dispatching points are usually scenes of chaos as residents push each other trying to grab the truck's hose pipe.
At Kroomdraai, a settlement along the N4 highway, Betwell Macama and James Mojo have resorted to locking the tap attached to two 210-litre communal tanks because of theft.
"People are supposed to use it until 6pm but we get people that come at night with bakkies to steal water. We now lock the tap and patrol at night," said Macama.
The community had agreed that only drums pushed on a wheelbarrow would be given access to water and that the municipality would supply homes hosting a funeral with tanks directly, said Mojo.
The water crisis cuts across racial and economic lines, said DA councillor Koos Venter.
"People are generally scared of drinking municipal water because the water is dirty too often. The water infrastructure has not been maintained for 20 years. There is always broken pipes if they are not being vandalised.
"The council doesn't have the manpower to deal with the problem. We have one qualified engineer to deal with the crisis," said Venter.
sifilel@sowetan.co.za
Dead animals in spring water - Emalahleni crisis unites rival parties
RESIDENTS of Spring Valley informal settlement in Emalahleni have to sift through dead animals and human waste to get water from a spring.
Every day hundreds of residents gather at the spring and use plastic containers to collect water for their homes.
Sometimes dead animals are found dumped in the spring, making the water dangerous to consume but they use it anyway.
Emalahleni is one of the four municipalities that were fingered in the SA Human Rights Commission's 2013 report for violating the rights of their citizens by failing to provide water.
The report was tabled after the commission investigated four municipalities and one education department on whether they complied with regulations to supply water and sanitation.
But it does not look like much has changed for residents like Veli Makhanya.
"We just remove the animals and collect the water. We then boil it or use bleach to purify it at home," said Makhanya.
He said water tanks that the council dispatches to the community are not reliable.
For the past 15 years Emalahleni has been grappling with severe water shortages, aging water infrastructure and high manganese contamination at Witbank Dam.
These challenges reached crisis point in 2013, which is also when the council was put under administration.
The municipality experiences at least eight pipe bursts a day, which puts more pressure on the supply.
The administrator, Theo van Vuuren, said the municipality needed R4-billion to get maximum water supply to its population of 400000, of which 86% rely on municipal water.
Residents of Spring Valley and Empumelelweni rely on both water tankers and the spring while those living in suburbs buy bottled water.
Thulani Manana has been living in Spring Valley for 11 years and shares a small shack with five others. They survive on 80 litres of water a day.
"Water is not enough. We skip a day without bathing just to save the little that we have. Water trucks are not reliable, especially on weekends. Sometimes we are forced to use spring water and the water there is dirty," said Manana.
The dispatching points are usually scenes of chaos as residents push each other trying to grab the truck's hose pipe.
At Kroomdraai, a settlement along the N4 highway, Betwell Macama and James Mojo have resorted to locking the tap attached to two 210-litre communal tanks because of theft.
"People are supposed to use it until 6pm but we get people that come at night with bakkies to steal water. We now lock the tap and patrol at night," said Macama.
The community had agreed that only drums pushed on a wheelbarrow would be given access to water and that the municipality would supply homes hosting a funeral with tanks directly, said Mojo.
The water crisis cuts across racial and economic lines, said DA councillor Koos Venter.
"People are generally scared of drinking municipal water because the water is dirty too often. The water infrastructure has not been maintained for 20 years. There is always broken pipes if they are not being vandalised.
"The council doesn't have the manpower to deal with the problem. We have one qualified engineer to deal with the crisis," said Venter.
sifilel@sowetan.co.za
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos