Pretoria - The City of Tshwane has laid the blame for Ikageng’s water problems on illegal dwellings.
Residents in the Mamelodi east township have had no water for 16 months, having had to rely on water tankers that park at the community centre to survive.
Pretoria News last week reported the residents felt deprived of basic services. Beside the water issues, they were also subjected to long power outages, and said they had been repeatedly reporting their water and electricity problems to Tshwane, but had had no response.
Responding to Pretoria News, municipal spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said illegal land occupation was hampering service delivery.
“There is illegal land occupation at the reservoir site that supplies Ikageng.
“These settlements have connected illegally to the inlet control chamber, significantly reducing the amount of water getting into the reservoir.
“As a result, the level does not build up high enough to pressurise the supply system to all areas intended to receive water from the reservoir.” Mashigo said water tankers were dispatched daily to alleviate the problem.
When Pretoria News visited the area last week, there were widespread complaints by the community the notorious Boko Haram gang was involved. Some accused it of having a hand in the water issues because of tenders given to the gang.
The gang is said to have a big presence in Pretoria townships, especially Mamelodi East, leaving residents terrified. However, Mashigo referred complaints that were gang-related to law-enforcement.
“Anything related to gang operations, as alleged, should be referred to a competent law-enforcement institution, in this respect SAPS.”
Mashigo further urged residents to report power outages and keep reference numbers of the complaints.
Besides all this, residents still struggle to make ends meet, with the shortages of water and the municipalities unable to keep the lights on.
Residents said they had become used to living without water, but the the lack of electricity was hitting them hard because of crime.
One community member last week voiced concern about the municipality’s “non-continuity”.
The municipal council recently elected Dr Murunwa Makwarela as mayor, to replace Randall Williams who quit last month.
“The change in leadership is really not helping. There is just no continuity. The previous mayor knew about our problems here, and hopefully he was doing something about the matter.
“But now there is a new mayor who would have to start from scratch trying to sort out the problem,” Tumi Msiza said.
Pretoria News