Load-shedding blamed for Rand Water’s plant failure

Share the Article:

Load-shedding has been blamed for Rand Water’s plant failure that left Gauteng residents’ taps dry, so says the Democratic Alliance.

The party said residents in the province dependent upon the Zuikerbosch Rand Water treatment plant will again have limited to no water after Thursday’s breakdown in plant equipment.

According to Nico De Jager, the party’s spokesperson for infrastructure in Gauteng, Rand Water says they experienced equipment failures at the Zuikerbosch treatment plant because of load-shedding and power dips.

“The latest outage will affect the Zwartkopjes, Eikenhof, Mapleton and Palmiet systems. Reservoirs that receive their water from the Zuikerbosch plant, including Alexandra, Berea, South Hills, and the Commando systems in Joburg, as well as areas in Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, will be affected.

“It is unacceptable that Rand Water continues to use load-shedding as an excuse for their lack of maintenance on their infrastructure,” he revealed.

ALSO READ | 600 million-litre water purification plant for customers to be launched

De Jager further adds that they have been calling on water utility to regularly maintain their infrastructure and put adequate security measures in place at their reservoirs and pumping stations.

He continued; “It cannot be that after all these years of the country experiencing load-shedding, Rand Water can still not provide backup electricity at their pumping stations.

“It is high time that Rand Water takes responsibility for their infrastructure and stops blaming load-shedding for its woes”.

De Jager said they will continue to put pressure on the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Mzi Khumalo, to engage with Rand Water on this issue and ensure that all municipalities produce a water disaster plan.