WATCH | Residents protest over 20-day water outage in Parktown

Parktown West residents who took to the streets on Wednesday morning to protest a lack of water supply say they have spent thousands on private water tankers to fill up their Jojo tanks after not having had water for more than 20 days.

The residents took to the streets of Parktown along Jan Smuts Avenue to demonstrate their frustration with what they say is the City of Johannesburg’s poor service delivery.

This comes after Johannesburg Water released a statement apologising for the inconvenience caused to residents after a staff picket that allegedly left most areas without water.

Angela Dick, who has lived in the area for 45 years, said she has spent R26,000 for the past 20 days to buy water, money she said she does not have.

“I never budgeted for that money, and it’s such a scary thing to consider that you would have to resort to buying water when you’re already paying for the service.

“There are elderly pensioners here who don’t have that sort of money. I have lived here for 45 years, and I have never experienced such a problem.”

Dick said residents have not received proper communication from the city about the problem.

Another resident, Niki Rakgoadi, who has been living in the area for the past 16 years, said she still gets billed for “air” that comes through empty pipes.

“We are all ratepayers; we’re one of the rate-paying areas, and it’s not like when water returns your bill is going to show you had no water.

“If anything, our bills are often higher after a water outage because then more air and so on pumps into the pipes. So we end up paying for air.”

She said most residents have spent at least R16,000 on hiring private water tankers to fill up their Jojo tanks.

“Some people have not had water for up to 22 days and others 20. It depends if you’re in the low-lying areas or high. And the city has told us nothing. We’ve been getting by with a combination of private water that we get from hiring private water tankers or getting water from a friend or neighbour and buying water from the shops. There are days we’re not showering. And the price ranges for hiring a water tanker — it’s not the same today as it was yesterday,” she said.

Meanwhile, Michelle Pellaton-Emerick, who is principal of the Key School, a school for pupils with autism, said they have been quoted R1,000 per 100l of water.

“We’ve been surviving with help from neighbours and asking parents to bring extra bottles of water and trying to do the best that we can, but it has been hard, especially for the residents and those with businesses.

“How do you run a school without water? We have to buy water, and it’s not money we budget for,” she said.

Sowetan