Water crisis ends after disrupting the week’s classes

As water started flowing again on Sunday in at least half a dozen suburbs of Potchefstroom that had dry taps for several days, students and residents gave a collective sigh of relief.

Repairs to a major pipeline forced the JB Marks municipality to shut down the water supply, leaving students with no other option than to buy water or fetch some from emergency tanks. The North-West University subsequently cancelled contact classes, moved to learning online and sent students home.

According to Anné van Onselen, the DA council member for Ward 3, the water was restored on Sunday around 17:00. 

“Everyone should have water,” she said yesterday (8 April). She said the work on the mainline was done on Friday throughout the night, as well as on Saturday. “By the afternoon on Saturday the water was coming out [the taps], although the pressure took a while [to build up],” Van Onselen said.

Another DA councillor, Jóhni Steenkamp, told residents of Kannonierspark that there might be mud in the water following the repairs. “Please do not believe the fake news being spread that there is sewage in the water,” she said.

During the weekend the university management sent out a communique informing students and staff the inflow of water from the JB Marks municipality’s side had improved at some points but was still not enough to ensure the necessary water pressure in academic buildings and residences. Classes remained cancelled because due to the usage on campus, the situation was deteriorating further, especially in residences. 

Students expressed their frustrations over the prolonged water shortages in the greater Potchefstroom area.

At the beginning it was hectic coping with the water crisis, off-campus student Carlo Gallagher, a resident of TMM Lofts near the campus, said. 

“We needed to go and buy 5-litre bottles … There was a tank near [building] F1 [on campus] that we had access to, so we went and got water there, so it made things a little easier,” he said, adding that he did not cook while there was no water.

Petunia Mohlongo, who stays in Steve Biko Street, said during the crisis that not having water had been a challenge hygiene-wise and it had been tough to complete tasks. “I cannot cook, and now I am broke [because I had to buy water], and you don’t feel [you have] cleaned yourself properly,” she said. 

A Kasteel resident, Lerisha Storm, said she coped quite well even during the crisis because the NWU management lent a helping hand by providing each residence member with a 5-litre bottle of drinking water and tanks outside the residences were filled with grey water.“House committee members went to fetch water at De Wilgers men’s residence and gave it to our residents.” She said she went home just to shower.

Thandeka Madonsela, a resident of Vergeet-my-nie, pointed to hygiene as her worst experience during the crisis. She said there were instructions to not use the toilets, but her fellow residents did not adhere to that instruction and the outcome of that was an awful and nauseating smell in all the residence corridors.

After being provided with grey water, she took part in fetching water and pouring it inside the toilets to flush the waste away.

“That was an awful experience for me, and I was nauseous the whole time,” she said. Storm also raised concerns about hygiene and said it was gross because there was unflushed waste in the toilets. 

In a video that was circulated to communicate on behalf of the municipality, JB Marks spokesperson Jeanette Tshite said there was a drastic reduction in water supply from the lake-side (Dam area) last week, which led to them to investigate. This was when they discovered they were dealing with a steel pipe which she described as “very fragile”.  

Water pumping to the city’s reservoirs started following the completion of the repair work. – By Lungile Matsuma and Boity Mokhantso