Guaranteed service delivery for all … just bring your own bucket.

Water service delivery in the Makhado municipal area again came under fire the past week with taps running dry for days on end.

Many residents only realized that there was no water, when their storage tanks started running dry. Tshikota residents were also spotted last Friday frantically trying to fill empty containers with water from a municipal tanker, claiming that they have been without a single drop of water for three weeks. (Log on to www.zoutnet.co.za to watch the video clip).

As to the reason for the problem, Makhado municipal spokesperson Mr Louis Bobodi dropped off a press release at the offices of theZoutpansberger in Friday, explaining that the Vhembe District Municipality embarked on a reservoir maintenance plan that will interrupt the normal supply of water.  The release was dated two days earlier.

According to the release, the maintenance plan entails the cleaning of three Albasini dam pump stations, as well as an additional eight reservoirs in Louis Trichardt. These reservoirs include the Mowkop, Hospital, Extension 7 and Railway pump station as well as the four reservoirs in Berg Street.

In their release the Vhembe Municipality explains that the cleaning programme forms part of their “goal to supply every household with an adequate and reliable water supply.”

From Monday to Tuesday the three pump stations were cleaned, thereafter the Mowkop reservoir on Wednesday and Thursday and the remaining reservoirs from 26 to 30 May.

Confusion, however, exists regarding which parts of town and surrounding areas will be affected and for how long.

According to a source close to the cleaning programme, water will be pumped directly from the Albasini dam into the existing supply pipeline for the duration of the programme. This is allegedly due to the fact that the reservoirs will apparently be emptied out.

Both the Makhado and Vhembe Municipalities were contacted to provide further details regarding the programme.  Questions asked included which parts of town will be affected during the cleaning programme, when maintenance work will be completed, and why Tshikota has been without water for three weeks.

Answers provided by the respective municipal spokespersons, however, only seemed to further dent the already fragile reputations of both municipalities when it comes to water service delivery.

“We are faced with challenges in respect of water, and are struggling to cope,” said Mr Ralushai Matodzi, spokesperson for the district municipality on Tuesday. He acknowledged that the municipality is “disappointing a lot of people” and said that “Since Monday, we received many, many complaints from the public.”

Bobodi in turn responded that he was not aware of the water crisis currently experienced by Tshikota residents.

“If that is the case [no water], I was not aware of the challenges,” he said on Monday. He then referred all further media questions to Matodzi because the Makhado Municipality is no longer responsible for water.

Asked where residents can find municipal water trucks, Bobodi referred the issue to the municipality’s assistant  manager for water services, Mr David Mukosi, who is responsible for the deployment of the emergency water trucks. He responded by saying that residents should phone the trucks themselves if they want to know where they are. The number given was 082 941 8171.