‘We have lost hope’: Kensington residents head to polls amid water crisis - TimesLIVE

As political parties prepare and ask residents for their votes, some people in Kensington, Johannesburg, say they have lost faith in government, with an unreliable water supply adding to their frustration before the elections.

Residents told TimesLIVE on Thursday they have been without water for days, forcing them to store it in buckets and bottles for whenever their taps run dry.

For Abel Mabooi, the ongoing water problems have left him with little hope that things will change, though he still intends to vote.

“We have not had water for a couple of days now. These days we experience problems with water. Sometimes we have it; sometimes we do not.”

He questioned why politicians competed for leadership positions but failed to deliver basic services to the people who voted for them.

“I wish they would come together and think about the people and not about filling their pockets.”

Mabooi said residents hoped the elections would bring meaningful changes to their community.

In the meantime, they have had to find ways to cope with the unreliable water supply, including filling buckets and bottles whenever water is available.

“We have to make sure that we fill our buckets and bottles with water because it is not guaranteed. We just hope that our votes will make a difference,” he said.

For 42-year-old Nomsa Khumalo, who also lives in Kensington, the decision to vote comes with little confidence that things will improve.

Khumalo said she was looking forward to casting her vote next week but did not want to raise her expectations about the outcomes.

“Even when they say casting your vote will make a difference in better results and change, it is unbelievable now.”

Khumalo said if circumstances allowed, she would consider moving to her marital home in Giyani, Limpopo, where she said she did not experience the same water problems.

“I have a borehole water pump there. Life is easier than here, where there are a lot of service delivery issues involving a basic need like water.”

However, she said finding work remained a major consideration, making it difficult to leave Johannesburg.

“The problem is that I have to work, and you know how the crisis of unemployment is,” she said.

Kensington ward councillor Carlos da Rocha said the water situation in the area had become increasingly unstable over the past two weeks.

Residents had experienced a pattern in which the water supply returned before disappearing again.

“The problem is that there is no water management system in place that is fair for everybody. It is unpredictable. We never know when residents can have water,” Da Rocha said.

Reservoirs had to be closed at night to allow them to fill before being reopened in the morning in an attempt to distribute water to residents.

However, this had not resolved the problem because the amount of water flowing into the reservoirs had also decreased.

Da Rocha suggested that an operational system allowing residents to receive water every two days could give households an opportunity to store enough water to get through periods when their taps were dry.

Engineers would need to determine the most effective way to manage the supply and ensure that water reached affected communities.

The problem extended beyond Kensington, with residents across Johannesburg struggling to access water.

He also questioned whether water tankers could adequately meet the demand.

“There is no way they have got enough water tankers to supply water to the residents,” he said.

TimesLIVE has approached Johannesburg Water for comment. Their comment will be added once received.