By Nothando Yolanda Tshuma, Nandipha Twani and Andisiwe Plaatjie
“Makana Municipality, get your act together.”
These were the words of Brookshaw Old Age Home manager Estie Westcott, after the retirement home went without water for more than a week recently.
While the water crisis persists in some parts of Makhanda, the situation has been dire at Brookshaw as the elderly residents continue to suffer lack of water, which deprives them of their human right and basic need.
In an interview with the Grocott’s team this week, Westcott stated that before the municipal strike earlier this month, they did not have any water for about 12 days. However, as a result of the strike, water was restored, although a week after, the struggle continued.
Westcott stated she had not been in communication with the municipality but had rather engaged with DA ward 8 councillor, Cary Clark, who then informed the acting director of water and sanitation at the Makana Local Municipality, Mzomhle Radu, begging for intervention in the ongoing water crisis via a text message. The message read: “Please Mr. Radu, Brookshaw needs to be urgently attended to today. There is a public holiday and today is already day 5 without water and they are suffering. This really is totally unacceptable and I cannot get the water department to bother even responding. Please intervene.”
Westcott said while water was back on last night, Brookshaw had a water interruption that they were not prewarned about.
Westcott informed Grocott’s Mail that, the switching water on and off makes it difficult to manage the residence and care for the elderly. This includes the washing of dishes, going to the toilet and meeting the basic needs of the elderly residence.
Westcott mentioned that during this crisis, the residents and staff had to rely on community support for water donations, saying, “If it was not for the Grahamstown community, we would not have survived that.” The facility had to carry water manually to perform basic tasks such as washing dishes and flushing toilets. The lack of water has been disruptive and disheartening for everyone, particularly the elderly residents.
Through the help of the community of Makhanda, the home has managed to stay afloat for this long but the question that Westcott is asking is, “How long is this going to go on for?”
“Today is 26 September, the water is back but I cannot say that it is back for good,” said Westcott.
Monica Hozcock (88) a resident at Brookshaw said, “It is such a disappointment when there is no water.”
When looking at the financial strain that this has brought, Westcott stated that the facility has been strained due to additional costs of getting safe drinking water, as the municipal water is unsafe for consumption.
“Thoko from Aqua Pure has been helpful when it comes to delivering safe drinking water and he comes and he does the batch of 800 litres of drinking water for us every week,” says Westcott.
Westcott called a for prioritization of services particularly for old-age homes, schools, and care facilities.
Grocott’s Mail had not received answers from the municipality by the time of publishing.
