Furious students living at the Gavin Relly Postgraduate Village have been forced to collect water in buckets from emergency water tanks for cooking, flushing the toilet, washing and drinking for more than a week, as all taps in the complex remain dry.
Furious students living at the Gavin Relly Postgraduate Village have been forced to collect water in buckets from emergency water tanks for cooking, flushing the toilet, washing and drinking for more than a week, as all taps in the complex remain dry.
The Rhodes University estates division has supplied the residential complex with 13-litre tanks and the Makana Municipal Fire department is keeping them topped up. Hall Warden Professor Juma explained that at first the water supply had been intermittent in the mornings, with nothing in the afternoon – but it had not been until last Thursday that the taps completely dried up.
Luthando Mashiya, manager of water and sanitation services at Makana Municipality, told Grocott's Mail they were doing everything in their power to fix the water problem. Mashiya said the water shortage was due to a burst pipe in the line that supplied the student village.
He said it had taken a long time to identify the problem. “We have the challenge of old infrastructure. We are doing something about it. We hope that such situation won’t repeat itself, and that such problems are resolved quickly in the future,” he told Grocott's Mail.
Mashiya assured residents and students that the water problem would be resolved well before Wednesday's public holiday. “We were informed that the pipe had been repaired and that we should expect normal flow by (Tuesday) evening, said Juma.
This had not happened, however because, as they were later told, there was another burst 20 metres away from the original burst. Yesterday, Mashiya explained that the outdated infrastructure is causing the bursts in the pipe line system.
He assured Grocott's Mail that his team was working hard to resolve the matter by today. “Students are angry, and they've got the right to be, as they pay huge fees. They are specifically angry with us – but it is squarely a problem out of our hands,” said Andy Hatting, acting director of Rhodes University estates division.
Yesterday, Professor Juma confirmed that the water shortage still persisted and commended the students for their patience and maturity. However he expressed his concern, saying, “I think the matter is now getting out of hand and the municipality and the university must urgently address the situation.”
