A community in Polokwane have been blockading roads with burning tyres and other objects for the past two days as they accuse local authorities of failing to provide clean water.
Residents of Lehae La Batho in Seshego are demanding restoration of water supply and the Polokwane municipality must resolve what they say are problems in the billing system.
Community leader Eliot Malesela said since the start of heavy rains in February, the communities have been without running water and relied on neighbouring areas.
“All the dams supplying our areas are full with water but our taps remain dry. The Polokwane municipality and Lepelle Northern Water are not giving us satisfactory answers,” he said.
Malesela said residents were also shocked to find out that the municipality continued to impose high bills even though some households never had any supply of water for weeks.
“What we see it’s a fraudulent billing system and we want the municipality to fix it. We can’t pay for something we didn’t use.”
Lepelle Northern Water (LNW), water implementing agency, which supplies bulk water in the area, has blamed the water cut on its operational challenges.
Lepelle spokesperson Simon Mpamonyane said due to operational challenges in the Ebenezer Scheme, the water agency is currently unable to supply adequate bulk water to Polokwane municipality.
“After heavy rains, LNW faced operational challenges at Ebenezer plant, which could not handle the high turbidity levels, resulting in less water being abstracted from the dam. The condition contributed to less water being released to the supply areas, including reservoirs for Polokwane municipality,” Mpamonyane said.
Mpamonyane added that in addressing the challenge of high turbidity, Lepelle has embarked on the process of backwashing sand filters to improve its effectiveness.
“LNW has started to employ the use of four high lift pumps, where reservoirs levels are expected to pick up soon,” he said..
Polokwane municipality spokesperson Desiree Manyane said there was nothing wrong with the billing system, adding that residents who were unhappy with their bills should go to the offices and lodge complaints.
“What we have observed as the municipality is that some residents leave the taps open when there is a water shortage. And when water is restored it finds the taps open [and] unattended; the bill will be high,” Manyane said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.