We have been without water for six months: Hertzogville residents

Some residents of Hertzogville in the Free State have been without water for the past six months and are calling on the government to intervene.

Residents have no choice but to go around various households searching for water.

To exacerbate matters, water only gets delivered to selected areas, leaving others with no plan to access clean drinking water.

Some residents have told of how they have had to approach those residents who still have little water running in their backyards to fill their buckets and have had to pay for this water.

One of those who provide water to other residents is 65-year-old Gaseroba Bakeni.

Bakeni says she, however, often ends up without any water for herself.

“This issue of water is affecting me. People gather here to get water and I can’t stop them. Instead, I’m the one who struggles to get water. So all I’m asking is that the municipality must make a plan for people to get water,” she says.

Free State | Residents of Hertzogville faced with problems of water scarcity

Other residents say they are weary of the daily hunt to access a basic need.

“Look at how many people there are getting water from this old lady’s tap. From as early as 2 am, we have to start queuing here for water and the old lady can’t open for us at that time because she is old. So, we have to wait for her to wake up,” one of the residents says and adds sometimes their children don’t go to school because their uniforms are dirty.

She appealed for the government to assist.

Meanwhile, water in Hertzogville is supplied by the Vaal River in Christiana, North West which is 42 kilometres away.

According to the Tokologo Local Municipality acting municipal manager Mpho Sehloho, the pumps that extracted water for the area were damaged by fire in February.

“There are pumps that are customised to transport water for that distance. They are pumps that you can’t get off the shelves. They are pumps that must be manufactured specifically for that role. So, we’ve had to wait for the order.”

Sehlolo adds that the pumps are supplied by a German company.

“We have since received one of those pumps and it is being installed. So, we are expecting that by the end of August. The community will have an uninterrupted water supply.”

The municipality says both the main and the backup pump were affected initially by load-shedding and cable theft.

It says due to financial constraints there are not enough funds to have full-time security.

For now, the Lejweleputswa District Municipality assists with the delivery of water.