For weeks residents of Siyabuswa in Mpumalanga under the Dr JS Moroka local municipality, have been without running water. Residents are furious with the municipality after they promised to fix the crises and that the dry taps will have water by Friday.

The municipality took to their page to inform residents on issues they are facing in fixing the water crises. According to the municipality, the water shortage the community is experiencing was caused by cable theft at their Waalkraal and Kamelrivier pump stations resulting into lack of supply of water to communities affected.

They promised the water division is working on fixing the crises at their water pump stations caused by the cable theft, they mentioned the division is working around the clock to supply water by Friday 01 October and apologised for the delay in updating the community on the matter.

The promise did not come to pass, leading to angry resident demanding answers and threatening to not get vaccinated after new vaccination sites were opened to promote the Vooma Vaccination Campaign. We reached out to residents for comments and rage was expressed on how they feel regarding the delay.

Community of Siyabuswa say they fail to understand why it will take weeks to restore water, they emphasised disappointment in the municipality not even bringing water trucks in all the areas affected. According to most of them, it is not the first time they hear about the cable theft excuse, despite the municipality deploying security to protect the pump stations.

Angry residents said they do not drink vaccinations, therefore the municipality should provide them with water before talking about getting vaccinated. However they also asked for water trucks to currently cover and provide the community, to also use this as a chance to create employment by employing residents who contain security certificates to secure and prevent further cable thefts from partaking.

Our efforts to reach and get comment from Dr. JS Moroka Municipality head of water and sanitation were fruitless as the municipal telephone rang unanswered.