Never mind all the infighting in the ANC and Mosiua Lekota’s plans to go it alone – could we just get some water at our homes? This has been the general feeling amongst residents of Louis Trichardt and surrounds over the last week, when the water supply was disrupted for the umpteenth time due to cable theft. This has been the hottest topic of discussion throughout the town over the last week.

During the early hours of Friday morning, October 10, thieves removed the cable supplying electricity to Pump Station 1, about 10km outside town on the Levubu road, on the Albasini Dam supply line. The poor operator who tends to the station was asleep at the time and he was prevented from leaving his room when the thieves jammed his room door from the outside. He used his radio to alert his headquarters, but by the time help arrived, the thieves were long gone. The usual result of the reservoirs running dry occurred, with residents being left completely without water for two scorchingly hot days.

After repairs had been done, the hot weather during the subsequent days resulted in residents’ consuming water more quickly than the reservoirs could be filled again. The water supply will not be restored to normal in the foreseeable future if this practice persists.

In the meantime, residents have become totally fed-up with the recurring lack of water to their homes.

“What are we paying these councillors for?” one irate resident in the older part of town said on Sunday. “Why do they not have security people at these stations? What do our taxes go for?” he asked.

The water crisis has also impacted on the local high school, with the hostels being left without water since the cable theft. The situation has reached crisis proportions, since there is no water for cooking or ablutions. The tanks the school recently received to assist in emergencies are not large enough to address the problem if it persists for too long. Upon consulting the responsible person at the municipality, Mr Coenie de Lange of the high school was told by Mr David Nkosi from the municipality that they had decided to cut off the water of all public structures, in accordance with the restrictions published in Zoutpansberger last week. When De Lange pointed out to him the obvious problems with this blanket application, he indicated that the school would have to make a representation to the director of technical services, Mr Freddy Mamuremi, for the restriction to be lifted.

In the meantime, the problem is getting worse and learners at the school are extremely dissatisfied. De Lange also pointed out that the school is a designated marking centre during the matric examinations, where some 300 markers will converge on the premises from December 5 to 15.

“How do I explain to these people that there is no water to prepare food for them to eat or perform ablutions?” he said.