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No water as 'pipes burst'

Alfred Moselakgomo

Residents of Verena township in Mpumalanga have been without water for nearly four weeks.

The local Thembisile municipality has put the blame on old pipes that have apparently burst.

Residents are forced to boil water they draw from dams around the Mgidi and Ndzundza villages.

Others travel long distances that include the destinations of Tweefontein, Vlaklaagte and Kwaggafontein to fetch water or buy bottled water.

Resident Paulos Mashiane said the community has phoned the council notifying them of the problem. "The municipality kept promising that the problem would be solved, but it's been four weeks now and we don't know what is happening."

"The mayor, Velaphi Nkosi, promised that the water supply would be reconnected, but every time we phone him about progress, we are told he is busy or is in a meeting," said Mashiane.

"No one is prepared to tell us what exactly is the problem."

The council yesterday said the problem could be attributed to old pipes bursting.

Nkosi said: "The pipeline which provides the residents of Verena with water have burst and it is taking longer than anticipated to reach the point where the burst occurred.

"These pipes are old and we intend to replace them to avoid similar problems," he said.

The mayor said delivery trucks have been supplying residents with water twice a week and would continue doing so until the pipes had been fixed.

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