The residents of Trenance Park are waiting with bated breath for the end of April which will hopefully bring relief and a solution to their water crisis.
The news was confirmed at a recent meeting held on Friday, 9 April, at the eThekwini Municipality Roads and Stormwater Maintenance premises in Ottawa between the committee representing the community of Trenance Park, ward 59 councillor, Bongani Majola, and municipal officials. Amith Balgobind, committee member, said following their protest on 5 April, water supply has improved. “Oddly enough, since our protest we haven’t had such great water in years.” Balgobind said at the meeting they were informed about how the reservoir is feeding more areas than designed for and how water travels from the main reservoir into the community. “The officials spoke about a new pipeline being installed and should be completed by the end of April. This solution should help high-lying areas which are the most affected.”
Another challenge facing the community is the multitude of water interruptions during loadshedding. “During loadshedding the reservoir doesn’t fill and the pumps don’t work. Currently there is only one generator which isn’t sufficient.” Balgobind said the solution raised was to put a request for two new generators. A project that could take six months. “This is unacceptable. Loadshedding affects everything and we are sure that it is going to be around for at least five more years. Six months is too long and this is only if the request is approved.”
Other concerns raised at the meeting include the efficiency of the municipal call centre and better security at the reservoir. Balgodin said call centre agents should not be commenting on the issues as the lack of information causes a distrust between the municipality and the residents. Deon Govender, a resident for over 20 years, said since 2013 the situation has been a complete crisis. “The tankers hardly come to our area because they get emptied in other parts of the ward. When they do come I still need to consider that I suffered three heart attacks and find it hard to carry buckets filled with water.” Govender said residents can sometimes be left without running water for eight days. “If the water does come through the taps it’s gone again in about an hour or two. Sometimes it comes on late at night. When we call the municipality and report these faults they cut the call when we ask for reference numbers.”
EThekwini Municipality spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela, said the City viewed the meeting as a success. “The councillor and the committee expressed their gratitude for the presentations and the opportunity to interact with officials. They were also happy about the progress made to address the issue of water shortages in the high-level zone areas.” He said a number of issues were raised during the meeting, such as the reason for the recent water interruptions, current work being conducted, high bills due to air in the pipes and information received by the call center. “Our officials explained how different reservoirs are affected if there is loadshedding and pump failures. We also assured them that more training would be given to our agents to ensure that they are informative when our residents call in. We believe that our stakeholders are important and acknowledge the importance of keeping the doors of communication open.” Councillor Majola could not be reached for comment.
