Despite a remarkable improvement in the levels of the Soshanguve L reservoirs, some areas of the township were still experiencing water shortages on Monday, with taps running dry. 

The water shortage follows a report that a local reservoir was struggling to fill due to high consumption.

The recent issue follows a month-long water outage two weeks ago, caused by Rand Water’s scheduled maintenance at the Hartebeesthoek Reservoir.

Some residents claimed the current problem wasn’t due to infrastructure faults, but rather the municipality’s alleged attempt to revive water tanker services for financial gain.

The owner of a car wash next to the reservoir, who wished to remain anonymous, lamented that the water shortage had severely impacted his business. 

He claimed to have seen municipal officials frequently driving past the reservoir, but with no visible efforts to restore water supply. 

“I believe the problem is deliberately caused by those who own the water tankers, as they stand to profit from distributing water to residents during shortages,” he alleged.

Others took to social media to express frustration over the short notice given by the city before the water interruption.

“It is unacceptable for the municipality to be at fault for not informing the community in advance. Proper procedure was not followed, and it is the community that suffers and pays for this expensive service,” one resident said.

Earlier this year, Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya announced that the city’s plans to procure its own water tankers and waste collection trucks in the current financial year. 

She said the goal is to reduce reliance on external contractors by enhancing the city’s internal capabilities and capacity.

However, municipal spokesperson Selby Bokaba said the levels dropped significantly over the weekend, leading to a water supply interruption to areas supplied by the Soshanguve L Tower. 

He said a municipal team has now successfully restored the reservoirs to safe levels, and pumping to the tower zone has resumed.

“Pumping to the tower commenced late last night, and water supply has since been restored across all areas within the tower zone. The tower is currently operating at healthy levels. Furthermore, the team has reopened the reservoirs’ outlet flow, which was substantially restricted on Sunday to support the reservoirs’ recovery process,” he said.

He said this effectively means both the tower zone and the reservoirs’ systems are stable. 

However, he said, it should be noted that while water supply has been restored, some areas may experience delays in the full restoration as the network still needs to fill up before it can reach its full capacity.

“The city is once more urging residents in the areas supplied by the Soshanguve L Reservoirs to continue using water sparingly. This will assist in maintaining the system’s stability and prevent it from being depleted prematurely,” he said.

Bokaba pleaded with consumers in low-lying areas to cut down on consumption to allow the system to reach a level at which high-lying areas can get supply. 

“The city apologises for the inconvenience that was caused by the unplanned water supply interruption,” he said.

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za

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