Due to the rampant water crisis in places like Cullinan and the far East of Mamelodi, civic movement Soil of Africa led residents of these areas to stage a protest at the local Municipal offices in Mamelodi West on Monday.
According to Ramontja, the water crisis has been caused by the fact that service providers have not been paid by the City of Tshwane Municipality since April this year and as a result they can’t pay for installments for the new trucks that they have just purchased as per order by the City of Tshwane and they also can’t afford to pay drivers of these trucks.
Ramontja said truck owners fear that their trucks would be repossessed due to failure to pay their installments.
“The other issue that has led to the water crisis is the Municipality’s decision to decrease the number of days water is delivered in all areas that depend on tankers for their water supply,” he said.
“In some instances those who go to work in the morning are unable to receive their quota as water is delivered during their absence and they can’t plan as to when they will receive the water as the dates of water delivery are unpredictable and have not been made known by the City of Tshwane Municipality,” lamented Ramontja.
“Soil of Africa was approached by the community of Cullinan extension 9 and 10, as well as the community residing in the far East of Mamelodi (Alaska, Lusaka, Skierlik and Mooiplaas) complaining that they haven been living without water since 1 August this year; that they can’t bath, drink or cook and that this crisis also affects learners who have to go to school without bathing and have nothing to drink once they reach their respective schools,” explained Ramontja.
“This situation is an indication of incompetence on the part of the MMC for Human Settlements and that for Utilities in the City of Tshwane, this as they are not saying anything or coming up with solutions to the crisis at the moment,” he said.
He said drivers of water tankers have vowed to stop working until they are paid and the sad part is that the Municipality apparently doesn’t have a plan B to deliver water to the residents while sorting out their issues with owners of the water tankers.
“There is lack of creativity in the Municipality regarding problem-solving and the Municipality must therefore employ people who have qualifications about finances and are able to plan regarding issues like procurement and the implementation of the City’s budget in general,” he said.
“Water crisis is not happening only in Mamelodi and Cullinan but is also there in places like Hammanskraal, Atteridgeville and Soshanguve,” said Ramontja.
“If this matter is not resolved by the City of Tshwane in 72 hours, then we will have to mobilise all Tshwane residents to shut down the Pretoria CBD to drive our point home,” he fumed.
“During the days of apartheid these water crisis were not there and it is sad to realise that relatively affluent areas like Section Ikageng in Mamelodi, where residents live in bond houses, still have to rely on water tankers and this has been going on for five years now,” he said.
“Thirty years or so into democracy we are faced with water crisis and this shows that the City of Tshwane Municipality is actually not growing but degrading gradually, and we have therefore resolved to intervene and force ourselves onto Municipal issues in order to solve them,” said Ramontja.
According to Ramontja, the City of Tshwane Municipality is worse than all the Municipalities in the country in terms of service delivery.
Tshwane Talks spoke to anonymous water tanker service providers who expressed shock regarding changes made by the Municipality in terms of the original contract signed between the two parties.
They said previously, service providers were given 36 months contracts by the Municipality which included 9 hours per day every day and got paid well every month.
“Since April this year things have changed because our contracts have now been reduced to only 4 days, 8 hours and on top of that we haven’t been paid for the last three months,” said one service provider.
“As service providers we don’t understand why changes have been made to the original contract and this thing is affecting us a lot because we need to service our trucks, pour petrol, pay drivers and the money we now get from the Municipality is not enough,” he said.
He complained that even under these difficult conditions, the City of Tshwane Municipality expects them to deliver water to residents and are threatened with termination of contract if they fail to do so.
He revealed that some City of Tshwane officials have water tankers; something that is against the law as they are not supposed to do business with the Municipality because they are employed by the selfsame Municipality.
Percy from Plot 61, which is commonly known as Smith farm, told Tshwane Talks that the last time water was delivered in his area was on July 31 this year and residents have to privately hire vans to fetch water for them while those who don’t have money to do so due to unemployment are compelled to push wheelbarrows all the way to Nellmapius and back in order to fetch water.
“At Nellmapius our fellow residents are forced to pay R5 per 25 litre container by local residents there who want to make a quick buck and that’s why today we have decided to shut down the Mamelodi Municipal premises until further notice in demand for water,” he said.
“Our budget has been depleted, that is why we have reduced the number of trucks providing residents with water but we are going to adjust the budget now to accommodate all the people who are in need of water,” explained City of Tshwane Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise.
He insisted that water tankers are still there, but that unlike before, they will now provide water alternately unlike 7 days per week as was the case before.