HAMMANSKRAAL COMMUNITY LITERALLY USING DIRTY WATER – DR DU-PLESSIS

The community of Ward 76 in Hammanskraal is literally using dirty water from the trenches of the area.

This is according to Afrika Mayibuye Movement Tshwane Regional Chairperson Dr Moselene AR Du-Plessis.

Du-Plessis told Tshwane Talks that the Afrika Mayibuye Movement’s Regional Core Team received a call of distress from the residents of Ward 76 in Hammanskraal inviting them to come to their area to view the unbearable living conditions that arise in their area each time there is heavy rainfall.

“We found that the problems experienced by the Ward 76 community are largely attributable to the City of Tshwane Municipality’s poor architectural design regarding storm water drainage system,” enthused Dr Du-Plessis.

She said the Municipality has dug makeshift water channels which direct water to the manholes, but when it rains the high pressure rain water that flows through these trenches erodes the soil, thus deepening the trenches and in the process sweeping the soil to the manholes and spills over to the mainland; leading to people’s houses being flooded,” she said.

“Failure by the Municipality to insert concrete underground pipes is the cause of the flooding problem and as is the case in the suburbs, only concrete underground pipes must be used to direct water to the manholes,” she said.

“Alternatively, the Municipality must insert concrete slabs in the trenches to prevent this erosion,” said Du-Plessis.

The doctor lamented the fact that when it rains heavily in Hammanskraal Ward 76, “the entire community gets swamped in floods which cause serious damage to their properties, including furniture and several residents have abandoned their houses and stands due to the harsh conditions that arise on rainy days.”

She revealed that “in a tragic incident recently, an old man living alone drowned inside his flooded house and residents didn’t notice the incident as they themselves were trapped inside their respective houses to avoid the floods, and it was only after a few days, when the flooding had subsided that they ventured outside of their houses and noticed the old man’s demise.”

According to Dr Du-Plessis, another challenge experienced by the community is the inability to access potable water.

“The Municipality’s piped water meters are located in the very same trenches and as a result the water therein gets contaminated by storm water emanating from the malfunctioning drains, this as the water meter pipes themselves are leaking,” explained Du-Plessis.

“It is therefore not surprising that the Hammanskraal community as a whole continues to experience challenges with clean water and the community is therefore literally using dirty water that is in their taps,” she said.

Du-Plessis also pointed out that many Pretoria-based companies and employers no longer hire people from Hammanskraal because of their high rate of absenteeism from work which is caused by the floods in their area which prevent them from leaving their houses every now and then.

“These challenges and tragic incidents are known by the local Ward Councillor as well as the City of Tshwane Municipality, but nothing is being done to address them and the residents of Ward 76 have therefore turned to Afrika Mayibuye Movement for help and we dare not fail them,”said Du-Plessis.

She announced that Afrika Mayibuye’s shor-term solutions regarding the dire living conditions in Ward 76 are as follows:

1.To write a letter to the City of Tshwane Municipality requesting it to urgently address the said community challenges; failing which which Afrika Mayibuye Movement will mobilise the community to march to the Municipality’s headquarters to hand in a memorandum of grievances.

2.To organise a clean-up campaign whereby the said trenches would be unblocked by getting rid of all the rubble therein.

3.To use Mayibuye Social Assistance Programme to assess the needs of the community and make a determination regarding the type of assistance the community needs.

Their long-term solutions are are as follows:

1.Institute a lawsuit against the City of Tshwane Municipality for lost and damaged property, as well as for putting the health of residents in jeopardy.

2.The community must among itself elect a person who will represent them by standing as a candidate under the banner of Afrika Mayibuye Movement in the forthcoming 2026 local government elections.