While load shedding remains a problem for the majority of South Africans, residents in Leiden, Delft have been dealt a double whammy as they’ve also had to deal with “water shedding”.
Resident Lionel Booysen, 64, says the water cuts have been going on for eight months and they are getting gatvol as it seems there is no end in sight.
He says the problem started on 8 June 2023 and persisted until on Wednesday, when he threatened to contact the Daily Voice, and the council quickly came out to resolve it.
But, he says, how long will this last? He says since last June, the water in the area was cut off from 7am to 8pm every day.
This carried on until 21 November, and then the times changed from 6am to 10pm. From 26 January up until yesterday, the water has been off from 4am to midnight.
He says while the water appears to be flowing normally for now, they fear the water shedding will start again and they still don’t know why.
Booysen says: “I have contacted various entities concerning this matter. I’ve been sitting with a reference number since 25 January that also was not attended to.
“After sending an email stating that I am going to contact the Daily Voice, immediately the councillor contacted me, saying they got Mayco in to fix the problem we have been struggling with for the past eight months.
“Previously she told us the same thing and we only had water for two days. When the water is off, the taps are dry, not even dripping. We have to go to the Civic Centre and get water from an outside tap.”
Booysen says his family is taking turns to wake up during the night to fill the bathtub, so that they can have water for drinking, cooking and the toilet.
Booysen says: “I am a senior on chronic medicine and we are about 300 households sitting with this issue. When the water eventually would come on then it has a low pressure.
“The worst part is when someone would oversleep and not fill the bath; the flies and hygiene is terrible.”
Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, says the City of Cape Town is investigating the cause of the outages.
Badroodien says: “Potential causes being investigated may include possible account-related restrictions and checking the pressure management systems. Additionally, the area is also affected by significant illegal connections which often impacts formal houses especially during the peak hour.”