Water Crisis: Sol you’re not fooling us

James GirdAugust 8, 2014

1 minute read

—–Update Sunday, 26-01-2014 11:30—–

On Wednesday, 22-01-2014 Sol Paatje Municipality released a statement that water in Kimberley might be cut on Friday, 24-01-2014
On Friday, 24-01-2014 Sol Plaatje told the press that the water will not be cut.
On Saturday, 25-01-2014 after 21:00pm the DFA reported that the water supply in Kimberley will be cut that evening.
On Sunday, 26-01-2014 many Kimberley residents woke up find they have no water.

Will the water be cut tonight? Only time will tell.

Wednesday, 22-01-2014.

The Sol Plaatje Municipality released a statement on 22/01/2014 warning of possible water cuts by this Friday. (Full statement here)

The statement claims that the drop in the Reservoir is “Due to the extended heat wave that we have experienced in Kimberley over the past weeks” leading to soaring water usage by residents. The Municipality also claims no major water leakages on the network.

This is despite major leaks reported during the last couple for weeks, some of which took days to fix. In most cases the Municipality do not show any urgency when dealing with water leaks.

These photos were published on Kimberley Service Delivery on 4 January 2014.

Newton Reservoir water fountain- Photo from Kimberley Service Delivery — Newton Reservoir – Photo from Kimberley Service Delivery

Newton Reservoir water fountain 2 - Photo from Kimberley Service Delivery — Newton Reservoir – Photo by Jolande Bruce.

Pipe bursts is a frequent occurrence at the Newton Reservoir.

This photo was posted on Kimberley Service Delivery on 13 January 2014.

C/o Scholtz and George Street - Kimberley Service Delivery — Kimberley Service Delivery: “This pic was taken at the Corner of Scholtz and George street. More in Scholtz street. Sol plaatjie people worked there this morning and the water started running. They left the water to “borrel” just like that after they left.”

On Monday 20 January 2014 the DFA published an article of a burst pipe in Greenpoint flooding several streets.
The Greenpoint community threatened to once again take to the streets to protest Sol Plaatje Municipality’s failure to repair the broken water pipe in Iron wood street.

©1999-2014 Independent Online. All rights strictly reserved. Click to read in the DFA — ©1999-2014 Independent Online. All rights strictly reserved.
Click image to read in the DFA

On Tuesday 21 January 2014 the DFA ran an article on on the leaking water tower in Roodepan, which resulted in thousands of clean water running through the streets of the neighborhood. One man claimed that water has been leaking from the top of the the reservoir for more than two months.

Roodepan Waterfall - Shell Curtis Goliath — Roodepan Waterfall: Shell Curtis Goliath – One of the “heat ” photos

So Sol, you are not fooling us. Despite the heat of the last couple of weeks, the water level in the reservoir could have been much higher if thousands of litres of water wasn’t streaming down our streets during this time.

Sol Plaatje Municipality should stop blaming residents for problems in our city, take responsibility and fix it.

Credits

Sharon Steyn: Sharon is the CEO of NOCCI, and has been working relentlessly to better Service Delivery in Kimberley, mostly in her free time.
Jolande Bruce: Jolande is a concerned resident of Kimberley.
Shell Curtis Goliath:
Michelle runs her company, M L M van der Molen CC, focusing on Sustainable Development Planning and Environmental Services.
Sello Matsie: Sello is the Communications Manager of the Sol Plaatje Municipality. Before blaming him remember he is only the messenger, and doesn’t decide the content of Municipal Notices.
Kimberley Service Delivery: A Facebook Group created to assist the community, Business and Public with service delivery complaints in Kimberley.
The Diamond Field Advertiser / Independent Online: Subscribe to the online edition so receive the DFA electronically.