Grahamstown residents may have their water supply restored by tonight, as water is diverted to fill local dams. This news comes as Rhodes staff and students prepare to march in protest at ongoing outages.
Grahamstown residents may have their water supply restored by tonight, as water is diverted to fill local dams. This news comes as Rhodes staff and students prepare to march in protest at ongoing outages.
Over the past nine days, 42 residences on campus have experienced serious water problems. Areas throughout the municipality have been without water for periods varying from three weeks to a few days.
Rhodes has 3 500 students living in residence and around 7 000 individuals on campus during the day. In a media statement the Rhodes dean of students, Dr Vivian De Klerk, said she was concerned about the health of students who had not been drinking enough water.
She strongly advised students to wash their hands. Led by Vice Chancellor Dr Saleem Badat and his deputy Dr Sizwe Mabizela, today's march will start at the Clock Tower at 1pm, proceeding to the city hall, where a statement will be handed over to municipal officials.
The march, which members of the wider community been invited to join, is intended to be “a peaceful formal and dignified expression of deep concern at the needless suffering which has resulted from the lack of water supply,” according to the university's media statement.
Tension mounted last night when the Student Representative Council said they rejected the march, which is organised by the Rhodes administration.
They tweeted: “SRC does not support the institution blame shifting; we pay the fees to Rhodes…” The university has encouraged staff members to attend the protest in their academic regalia.
Addressing students at the University's Kimberley Hall last night, De Klerk pointed out that after a similar water crisis earlier this year, the university had decided Rhodes would be shut down after five consecutive days without water. The university remains open.
In an email sent to students just before 11am today, De Klerk said, "Unfortunately there has been no change in the situation overnight: there are currently 42 residences which are without any water. The most recent report from Makana Municipality indicates that the planned repairs on the Waainek pump were not successful, and the pump is still not operational. Another specialist is being brought in today."
"As an interim measure, water is now being diverted from the Fish River scheme to fill certain dams in Grahamstown, and it is hoped that the water will reach residents by late this evening."
According to De Klerk, students are being given two litres of drinking water a day at dining halls at meal times and water is being provided to as many residences as possible for the flushing of toilets.
Tanks on campus are being re-filled daily and wet wipes are available in place of washing hands. "The University is monitoring the impact of the lack of water on student health, and there is currently no cause for concern. I urge all students to be meticulous about issues of hygiene," De Klerk said in her email.
