The Buffalo City Metro (BCM) has been accused of wasting huge amounts of water by failing to fix a hydrant, which has allegedly been gushing for more than two years.
Residents of Highway Gardens and Scenery Park have lambasted the metro for the water waste. It also comes at a time the metro battles water outages, in some areas since last December.
The Daily Dispatch has published a series of reports on the water problems in Kayser’s Beach, Ncerha, Needs Camp and Tsholomnqa. The most recent outages affected parts of Mdantsane, which BCM blamed on vandalism of structure, load-shedding and major pipe bursts.
Despite these challenges, water has been gushing from an underground water pipe in Highway Gardens, an area near Scenery Park. It is a source of frustration for homeowners, who said their yards were often flooded.
Scenery Park resident Lamla Myoli claimed water has been running since 2010.
“We blame criminals who make it their job to damage the pipes looking for any material they can sell in the scrap yards,” Myoli said.
The hydrant structure seemed to have been vandalised as the concrete top was also broken. During initiation season initiates reportedly used the gushing water as a “fountain” where they shower.
When a DispatchLive team visited the site two weeks ago following complaints from residents, the leak had been fixed.
It was a day before Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane visited East London where she called on the Eastern Cape government to create a provincial “water master plan” to supply thousands of desperate people.
Subsequent visits revealed the water was still gushing.
Xoliswa Mema from Highway Gardens said residents in the area were forced to close their homes early as the flooding water attracted insects.
“There is water behind our houses. We have to walk in wet yards everyday. Two weeks ago, I saw some workers fixing the damage but it has again gone back to the appalling condition it has been for years.
An earlier statement by the metro said there were plans to upgrade pumps at Umzonyana water treatment site, where it is believed water is coming from, to provide enough water to the Damspot reservoir.
Metro spokesman Thandy Matebese did not respond to questions at time of writing. — mamelag@dispatch.co.za
VIDEO: BCM comes under fire over water leakage
Residents of Highway Gardens and Scenery Park have lambasted the metro for the water waste. It also comes at a time the metro battles water outages, in some areas since last December.
The Daily Dispatch has published a series of reports on the water problems in Kayser’s Beach, Ncerha, Needs Camp and Tsholomnqa. The most recent outages affected parts of Mdantsane, which BCM blamed on vandalism of structure, load-shedding and major pipe bursts.
Despite these challenges, water has been gushing from an underground water pipe in Highway Gardens, an area near Scenery Park. It is a source of frustration for homeowners, who said their yards were often flooded.
Scenery Park resident Lamla Myoli claimed water has been running since 2010.
“We blame criminals who make it their job to damage the pipes looking for any material they can sell in the scrap yards,” Myoli said.
The hydrant structure seemed to have been vandalised as the concrete top was also broken. During initiation season initiates reportedly used the gushing water as a “fountain” where they shower.
When a DispatchLive team visited the site two weeks ago following complaints from residents, the leak had been fixed.
It was a day before Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane visited East London where she called on the Eastern Cape government to create a provincial “water master plan” to supply thousands of desperate people.
Subsequent visits revealed the water was still gushing.
Xoliswa Mema from Highway Gardens said residents in the area were forced to close their homes early as the flooding water attracted insects.
“There is water behind our houses. We have to walk in wet yards everyday. Two weeks ago, I saw some workers fixing the damage but it has again gone back to the appalling condition it has been for years.
An earlier statement by the metro said there were plans to upgrade pumps at Umzonyana water treatment site, where it is believed water is coming from, to provide enough water to the Damspot reservoir.
Metro spokesman Thandy Matebese did not respond to questions at time of writing. — mamelag@dispatch.co.za
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos