Witput community faces dry Christmas

THE WITPUT community is facing the possibility of spending a bleak Christmas without water after their supply was cut due to non-payment by their local municipality, Siyancuma.

The electrical water pump in Witput, which has been supplying them with water, was switched off by Eskom and the power utility requires at least R16 000 for reconnection.

This is the fifth month already that the community has been without water.

Witput consists of a small community of about 10 houses, 100km from Kimberley and 25km from Hopetown.

They regard themselves as the forgotten community when it comes to service delivery, despite political promises during election campaigns of a better life.

According to the community, their trips to nearby towns is not to do Christmas shopping but to fetch water.

“That is the priority for us for now. We rather fill each car that leaves here with water cans instead of groceries. We have to spend money to pay cars travelling to and from Witput to bring us water,” said community spokesperson Anthony Jasson.

They currently survive on odd jobs or short-term contracts, as well as social grants and old age pensions, as their income.

The community yesterday pleaded for water as they claim they are dehydrated and suffering from infections.

They are continuously promised that a team from Siyancuma Municipality will be in touch with them.

The community said they used to pay their services fees years ago but the municipality stopped sending them bills.

“We do not mind paying whatever money we have just to get clean water.”

According to Basson, in the past few months they were forced to bury their loved ones away from home because of the lack of water.

Basson stated that the local school has a JoJo tank that is supplied by a borehole, but it is meant for the children.

He added, however, that the water was brown and smelly and questioned whether it was safe to drink.

Siyancuma Municipality mayor Patrick McKlein stated that he was aware of the water challenges the community is facing and the local authority was in the process of addressing them.

McKlein said that the municipality is in the final stages of obtaining a third quotation from suppliers to install a solar system to pump water in Witput.

“We are working around the clock to ensure that they do not have to spend Christmas without water, especially during these high temperatures,” said McKlein.

He added that the municipality had installed a JoJo tank but it was damaged due to protest action in 2018 when the Douglas municipal office, as well as the water delivery trucks, were torched.

“The municipality is still struggling to get back on its feet as revenue collection is slow and this has hampered service delivery. But we understand their daily struggles and their concerns that they are situated far from shops and cannot afford to spend money on buying water,” said McKlein.