Illegal Connections Leave Hundreds of Cape Town Households Without Water

Leaks and illegal connections are to blame for the inconsistent water supply experienced by hundreds of households in Ethembeni informal settlement, Khayelitsha. This is according to a City of Cape Town water and sanitation worker on site.

“Leaks and illegal connections are the cause for lower pressure in the area, but the City is planning to increase the existing pipe size to solve pressure issues,” he told GroundUp.

But residents are adamant that the taps installed by a City of Cape Town contractor are defective, causing the poor water supply.

When GroundUp visited Ethembeni, buckets of water were placed under one tap as it slowly filled with water.

Community leader Vuyani Madikane said the City installed the communal taps earlier this year. “The taps never worked properly. We told the contractor as much, but they never fixed them. We want the City to come here and see the defective taps. Water rarely comes out of the taps during the day, and drips out at night,” he said.

Madikane said shack dwellers collect water from the nearby Island informal settlement. “I use R150 to buy braai meat from the stands, bread and cool drink to eat every day because I can’t cook without water,” he said.

Nolusapho Nqinileyo said she struggles every day to get water to cook, clean and wash her four grandchildren. “Water comes out slowly and takes a long time to fill a bucket at night,” she said.

Nqinileyo said she is always stuck with dirty laundry because she never has enough water to wash their clothes. “I wash my grandchildren with a damp cloth before they go to school,” she said.

Siphesihle Mawazi said her vegetable garden is struggling. “I get water to the garden only once instead of twice a day. This is how I feed my family.”

Mayoral committee member for water and sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, said, “A team will be dispatched to conduct further investigation.”

“Residents are encouraged to please report water and sanitation-related service requests, such as broken taps and toilets, sewer overflows or blockages,” he said.

Badroodien said the project management team will ensure the community has access to water in the interim.

On the allegation that the taps are defective, Badroodien said that before any project is handed over, the contractor and project manager conduct quality checks and compile snags that need to be fixed.

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