Earlier today, frustrated Phumlamqashi Informal Settlement residents staged a protest on the Corner of Wimbeldon and Golden Highway R554 in Lenasia South demanding urgent intervention from Johannesburg Water and local authorities after enduring more than five days without water.
The protesters took drastic action to make their voices heard by barricading the Golden Highway with large rocks and burning tyres effectively blocking traffic in both directions forcing motorist to seek alternative routes.
One of the organisers, Chairperson of Phum’lamqashi, Jeffrey Mphohoni, told GLOBE POST: “We are extremely frustrated because tankers haven’t supplied us with water since Friday. Each time we try to raise our concerns with JW, we are told that the service provider did not receive payment last month. They have also failed to provide us with temporary solutions, like Jojo tanks, to ease the situation. Meanwhile, we are left to cope with the consequences. Seven days without water is unbearable!”
Mphohoni added that attempts to resolve the crisis have been met with disappointment: “The Ward 120 Cllr, Celestine Puseletso Nzimande held a meeting earlier in the morning at the Roots Store . She just left us when the police arrived to escort her,” he said.
Another resident, Bonkosi Mthabela, expressed growing anxiety over the lack of basic water supply. He said: “We don’t have water. What are our children using to bath? What about the elders who need water to take their medicine?”
*This is a developing story…
