Joburg residents affected by water shortages find water tankers dry

Some residents in the west of Johannesburg who have been affected by water shortages as a result of Rand Water doing maintenance rushed to the water tankers in the morning only to find them dry.

Witpootrtjie, Grobler Park and Kagiso are some of the areas that are currently experiencing water challenges as Rand Water does maintenance on the Eikenhof Pumpstation.

The maintenance was expected to affect Randburg, Roodepoort, Sandton, Midrand, Soweto, Lenasia, Ennerdale and Orange Farm. 

Lungile Khumalo from Grobler Park, who had not had water since Tuesday said the water tanker in her area is filled at midday everyday. When she returned from work at 6pm on Wednesday, the tanker was dry. None came afterwards.

When Sowetan spoke to her on Thursday afternoon, Khumalo was at the Witpoortjie Shopping Complex with two buckets and a bottle queuing at  the empty water tanker, waiting for it to be filled.

“We are waiting in a queue for only one tank to supply us with water for our homes. This is not going to be enough for all of us,” said Khumalo.

“We haven’t had water since Tuesday morning and today is Thursday and still there’s nothing. When I knocked off from work on Wednesday I found the tank already empty and I didn’t have other alternatives,” she added.

Residents said they the whole day for the tank to be filledbut is empty around 6pm.

Another Grobler Park resident, Tiyani Maswanganyi, said he only felt the impact on Wednesday since he had water but only low pressure. It was on Thursday that he felt the full impact as he had no water.

“I’m waiting and haven’t showered because my tap is dry,” said Maswanganyi.

The residents also complained that the water tank was not big enough to supply the entire community with water.