South Africa: Informal settlements in Uitenhage complain about tap water leaks

Clean water in the streets of Nelson Mandela Bay has been running down from tap in informal settlements for months in Uitenhage South Africa, according to a report by Ground Up.

The city reportedly battles drought though water restrictions are in force, as the limit of water is 50l for per person/per day.

Whereas, as per reports, the settlements of Uitenhage, Khayelitsha, and Gunguluza are gushing from erratic standpipes pouring down lanes.

The water supplies are erratic, having over 3,000 shacks, as said by local community leaders. "We have been told to use water sparingly, yet the municipality doesn't fix water leaks gushing out of our taps that are broken. We have been told to use water sparingly, yet the municipality doesn't fix water leaks gushing out of our taps that are broken. What happened to Day Zero when we report leaks but they are not being fixed?", inquired Zwelakhe Meleni, a community leader from Gunguluza.

The residents have reported the concerns about broken taps and leaking water supplies to municipalities as per reports.

To which Mthubanzi Mniki, the municipal spokesperson said that the authorities have prioritized the matter, as he said, "in the past seven months, the City has fixed more than 16,000 leaks already. The leaks you are referring to have been referred to the Water Services office to deal with. The municipality has augmented its water leaks programme by hiring private plumbing companies to assist. This has since improved the turnaround time for fixing leaks. The City is winning the war against leaks".