A skills training centre for the disabled has been forced to close due to water shortages which have hit the township of Soshanguve, north of Pretoria.
The water shortages, which affect all three Gauteng metros, came after an explosion at rand Water’s Palmiet Booster Pumping Station in Alberton on the East Rand on Sunday.
Lerona re a Shoma, which teaches disabled members of the community skills such as bead work and sewing, has been forced to close due to taps running dry in the township on Tuesday.
The school treasurer, Victoria Kgapole, 53, told Sowetan the water shortage has affected their lessons, which made them suspend classes on Tuesday.
“We don’t have any water storage tanks nor buckets for such untimely emergencies. We don’t know when the water supply will be fixed so that we may be able to operate,” Kgapole said.
Nintombi Sekhunda,19, a sewing arts and craft learner at the centre, who has the desire to become a fashion designer, said the situation has left them frustrated. “Just the said of not knowing when the water will return is just unbearable,” Sekhunda said.
Rand Water issued a media statement on Monday, explaining that the cause of the explosion is still unknown and the cause thereof is now being investigated.
City of Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo has called on residents to use water sparingly to avoid possible shortages.
Mashigo said the incident has led to rand Water being able to supply about 55% of its normal daily water supply volume.
The affected metros are the City of Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane.
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