THEY have been living with regular water cuts since November 2016. Now they are gatvol.
Residents of Henley Village, near Pietermaritzburg, in KwaZulu-Natal, have vowed to keep all roads in the area closed until their demands are met.
The residents started protesting on Monday after Msunduzi Municipality allegedly resumed cutting off water supply on purpose.
“We heard it’s the work of a certain employee. We’ve spoken to his superiors but they say we must speak to a superintendent,” said resident Nkokheli Dlamini (34).
He said municipal officials yesterday told residents they were in a meeting to discuss the issue.
“Instead of addressing us, the councillor went to that meeting. All we want is water,” said Dlamini.
He said residents were disappointed with mayor Themba Njilo, who had promised to solve the problem but had still not done so.
Kholeka Mchunu (55) said people were tired of voting in every election only for their suffering to continue.
“They come here and make promises and it ends there. Even our councillor vanished when it was time to deliver services.”
Mayor Njilo admitted there were areas that were not being properly serviced.
“We have 19 reservoirs but three of them fill up the others. When one reservoir is being filled up, others sometimes have to be closed.
“The employee accused of being behind this shouldn’t be blamed because he’s trying to balance the reservoirs so everyone gets water.”
He also said one of the reservoirs had been sabotaged. Security guards had been hired to prevent this happening again.
