Khayelitsha residents endure a weekend without water as taps run dry

It has been a hellish weekend for the people of Khayelitsha, who were without water in their households as the City of Cape Town continued emergency repairs to its water infrastructure.

On Monday, the taps were still dry, with residents running up and down the streets of Khayelitsha looking for water. When they found some, the queues were unbearable.

The City of Cape Town’s water and sanitation directorate said to Vukani that it was still attending to an emergency 450mm valve replacement. But after it was replaced on Saturday, unfortunately, two additional valves were identified for replacement. As  a result, some areas may still experience low water pressure and some none.

For four days, Nosicelo Mbane has been among hundreds, if not thousands, of Khayelitsha residents lining up for water as the City confronts an unprecedented collapse of its water valve system at the corner of Spine and Swartklip Roads, affecting most Khayelitsha areas.

To her, the problem is not too strange. She said residents have experienced such water shortages or scarcity. “This is frustrating to us because this is not the first time. We are sort of used to this and the city’s apologies to the media, not to us. But we will wait while we suffer," she said.

She said the city is famous for apologies and neglecting the poor of Khayelitsha. Another resident, Nosipho Mdaka from Kuyasa, echoed Nosicelo’s words by saying the practice of going without water is not a strange thing to the area. She said it is becoming a crisis because it happens almost every month.

“We have been battling for four days, going forward. Who knows that it might be a week, two weeks, and probably a month? I pity people that have ablution inside their houses. We have children that just go to the toilet and help themselves and realise later that there is water to flush everything down. The stink is probably unbearable,” she said.

But the city has promised to work diligently and solve the problem. It said the water will be restored as soon as possible. It said there are alternative water supplies being put in place, but unfortunately, certain areas are not receiving water during this time. It also said for now some areas will receive water at a very low pressure.

The affected areas are Mandela Park, Ilitha Park, Harare, Kuyasa, Eyethu and Khayalitsha.