Thousands of East London residents living in the west of the city are facing a water crisis after a pipeline was sabotaged by protesters.
It is alleged that residents of Needs Camp, who have been without water themselves, dug out and broke the pipe that feeds water to other villages.
Parts of Kayser’s Beach and villages in Ncera and Kuni, which rely on the water supply from the Needs Camp reservoir, have been without water since last Friday.
The protesting villagers from Ezigodweni, New Rest, Kalkeni and Boxwood yesterday vowed to continue preventing water from flowing through the pipes until they too got water.
The protest by the villages started last Thursday when they barricaded the Old Mount Coke Road with burning tyres.
According to Buffalo City Metro (BCM), the villages then started to vandalise parts of the 27km water pipeline. The pipeline, connected to a reservoir in Needs Camp, supplies water to taps in Needs Camp, Ncera and Kayser’s Beach.
BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi said on Monday the villagers had emptied one of the storage reservoirs when they opened the scour valves and began to drain the newly built 10-megalitre reservoir. “When we sent officials to attend to the problem, the villages threatened them and chased them away.”
When the Daily Dispatch visited the area yesterday BCM workers were digging trenches around the reservoirs under police and security guard.
Ngesi said they had since closed the reservoir.
“Water cannot be released from the reservoir as it will go to waste.”
The Dispatch was taken to one of the damaged pipes, which is about 100m from the reservoir.
On our arrival, a man who was standing on a hill started to blow a whistle and in minutes the residents came out in numbers.
A big rock was placed over the vandalised pipe. Resident Zamikhaya Qamba said villagers were doing this to vent their frustration over the fact there were pipes running through their village, but no water was supplied to them.
Johan Bester, who owns a guava and pineapple farm in Kayser’s Beach, said he and other farmers were severely affected by the constant water outages.
Bester said the area had suffered 41 water outages since the begining of this year.
“We cannot carry on like this.”
Ayanda Rwexu from Ncera village, who gets her water from a communal tap, said it was unfair for everyone to suffer.
“They need to get themselves sorted and leave us alone.”
BCM said the protesting community was currently supplied with Jojo tanks and a project for permanent water supply was in the final stages.
Ngesi said law enforcement officials had been sent to the areas to assist, but villagers continued to vandalise the infrastructure.
Thousands in EL left without water
It is alleged that residents of Needs Camp, who have been without water themselves, dug out and broke the pipe that feeds water to other villages.
Parts of Kayser’s Beach and villages in Ncera and Kuni, which rely on the water supply from the Needs Camp reservoir, have been without water since last Friday.
The protesting villagers from Ezigodweni, New Rest, Kalkeni and Boxwood yesterday vowed to continue preventing water from flowing through the pipes until they too got water.
The protest by the villages started last Thursday when they barricaded the Old Mount Coke Road with burning tyres.
According to Buffalo City Metro (BCM), the villages then started to vandalise parts of the 27km water pipeline. The pipeline, connected to a reservoir in Needs Camp, supplies water to taps in Needs Camp, Ncera and Kayser’s Beach.
BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi said on Monday the villagers had emptied one of the storage reservoirs when they opened the scour valves and began to drain the newly built 10-megalitre reservoir. “When we sent officials to attend to the problem, the villages threatened them and chased them away.”
When the Daily Dispatch visited the area yesterday BCM workers were digging trenches around the reservoirs under police and security guard.
Ngesi said they had since closed the reservoir.
“Water cannot be released from the reservoir as it will go to waste.”
The Dispatch was taken to one of the damaged pipes, which is about 100m from the reservoir.
On our arrival, a man who was standing on a hill started to blow a whistle and in minutes the residents came out in numbers.
A big rock was placed over the vandalised pipe. Resident Zamikhaya Qamba said villagers were doing this to vent their frustration over the fact there were pipes running through their village, but no water was supplied to them.
Johan Bester, who owns a guava and pineapple farm in Kayser’s Beach, said he and other farmers were severely affected by the constant water outages.
Bester said the area had suffered 41 water outages since the begining of this year.
“We cannot carry on like this.”
Ayanda Rwexu from Ncera village, who gets her water from a communal tap, said it was unfair for everyone to suffer.
“They need to get themselves sorted and leave us alone.”
BCM said the protesting community was currently supplied with Jojo tanks and a project for permanent water supply was in the final stages.
Ngesi said law enforcement officials had been sent to the areas to assist, but villagers continued to vandalise the infrastructure.
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