The residents of Kimberley have been struggling with water supply for months, and it is having a dire impact on their lives. In the series, On The Road, News24 is travelling through the country to gauge South Africans’ feelings ahead of the elections.News24’s Manifesto Meter elections tool compares political party manifestos. Read more here.
Suppose you live in Jacksonville, Roodepan, on the outskirts of Kimberley, in a small four-room house where you look after nine children, and you run out of water, which often happens in these parts.
In that case, you have two options: wait for the municipal truck to bring water, whenever that is, or scrape together your meagre rands to fill up an empty water bottle at one of the nearby stores.
This is the reality of Rena Molale’s life at the moment, where she, like other Kimberley residents, can be faced with water outages for hours on end.
Rena Molale, with two of the children she looks after in Jacksonville, Roodepan, on the outskirts of Kimberley. (Luke Daniel/News24)
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It was scorching hot in Kimberley on Monday morning when News24 interviewed Molale as she was sitting at the door of her house, with her grandchildren and her late sister’s children, whom she looks after, milling about.
“It’s very, very, very hot. Very hot. And maybe our water will last a day, and then there isn’t water,” she says.
“We struggle. We have schoolchildren, and sometimes we can’t wash the children to go to school. We can’t do washing. And we can’t cook, because we don’t have water.”
Earlier this month, the Noord Kaap Bulletin reported that Kimberley’s water treatment plants are dysfunctional due to years of poor maintenance combined with technical and mechanical challenges.
However, an intervention to address critical maintenance of Kimberley’s bulk water supply infrastructure is under way, with three contracts worth R88.26 million having been awarded.
Yet, the local newspaper reported that water supply interruptions in the coming months were inevitable.
READ | Intervention in Kimberley’s bulk water supply showing results
This was what the residents experienced over the weekend.
On Saturday, the Sol Plaatje Municipality released a notice, titled: “Daytime Water Supply Interruption – 12H00 to 17H00 – Saturday 16 & Sunday 17 March 2024”.
It reads: “Sol Plaatje Municipality wishes to inform residents of the Daytime Water Supply Interruption of this weekend as per above schedule.
“It is being effected to enhance storage capacity at the Newton Reservoirs in an effort to stabilise supply for much of the working week.
“In addition to the leaks on the bulk pipeline that are affecting supply, we also experienced a technical glitch with one of the pumps having tripped at the Newton Reservoirs earlier this morning. Pumping has resumed.
“Please be informed that the Nightly Water Supply Interruption – 20h00 to 05h00 – remains in force.”
Scene near Kimberley’s Big Hole. (Luke Daniel/News24)
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Roodepan, Kimberley. (Luke Daniel/News24)
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EPWP worker clearing rubbish in Roodepan, Kimberley. (Luke Daniel/News24)
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Downtown Kimberley. (Luke Daniel/News24)
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A big ANC banner is being put up in Kimberley. (Luke Daniel/News24)
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When they don’t have water, Molale said, they have to phone the municipality to send water trucks and then fetch water, sometimes at a neighbouring area.
But it could take a long time for the trucks to arrive, she says.
“We can phone them in the morning, but then they come in the afternoon. Or when they feel like coming.”
And when the need for water presses while the wait is on, they have to buy water. And if you don’t have the cash to spare?
“Then you don’t have water,” says Molale.
Asked how this situation affects her views on the coming elections, Molale says: “I don’t know. I’m so tired. I don’t know who to vote for, because everyone who comes here just lies. I have given up hope.”
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Daren Beykes, 22, is a general worker at the Just-Rite supermarket in Roodepan, just around the corner from Molale.
It is one of the places where the residents buy water. Several shops across Kimberley stock more water than one would see in other places.
Beykes said the water, which sells for R20 for five litres, was among the most bought products in the store.
The walk to the corner of the shop reveals that the store specialises in nothing in particular, as cosmetic products, toys and even hair and wigs were also on sale.
Beykes said his Roodepan home had been without water for more than seven days.
Roodepan resident Darren Beykes said on Monday his home has been without water for seven days. (Luke Daniel/News24)
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“One of the things that bothers me is that they don’t tell us that the water is going to be off; maybe if they tell us, we can make alternative plans.
“We are not surviving. In life, you have to have water because you have to wash, you have to cook, you have to drink; what can you do without water?” he asked.
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Noëline Joseph, originally from the Richtersveld, has been studying in Kimberley for the past two weeks at the National Rural Youth Service Corps of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development.
She, too, finds that the water situation in Kimberley is a problem.
The water outages in Kimberley is placing a damper on Noëline Joseph’s studies, but she will not let it get her down. (Luke Daniel/News24)
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“Over weekends, doing our laundry is a problem. In the morning, maybe the water is off, and we have to get ready to get to class. So, currently, it is a big problem for us as students.”
However, unlike Molale, Joseph hasn’t given up hope.
“I feel, as a student, this water problem isn’t going to get me down. As a student, I feel I will try to get a better outcome, even if there is a shortage of water.
“If everyone contributes and strives towards where they want to be, to make a success to their lives, then the circumstances don’t matter. As long as a person just perseveres.”
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