GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - Residents of Graaff-Reinet and surrounding towns are no strangers to water woes, with little to no running water weekly. This is often due to lack of water pressure for the water to reach homes, or simply because of a lack of supply.
However, the dire situation was worsened this week, as electricity supplier Eskom implemented load shedding daily, with the Monday evening announcement of stage six load shedding— a first for South Africa.
The Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality warned in a statement on 6 December that the power outages will lead to water cuts, as the town's boreholes depend on electricity. "Water trucks are circulating," the statement read. The municipality failed to comment in time for print whether they had additional plans in place to assist residents with water during the outages, or how long it would take for supply to return once the electricity was back on.
Stage two load shedding saw Graaff-Reinet in the dark for nearly three hours at a time, while stage four totalled just over seven hours.
Despite the municipality's claim that the lack of water supply in town was due to load shedding, many residents noted that they had little or no water supply before load shedding was implemented. The Advertiser reported last week that areas such as Umasizakhe and Bergendal, to name a few, were without water for days on end. The municipality said at the time that the issue was due to low water levels and high demand.
"Think of those who cannot afford generators," local resident Panorama Plaatjies told the Advertiser. "Why doesn't the municipality have backup generators to supply water to the community?" Dorisca Bosch shared that the outage was challenging, because she needs to wash baby clothes regularly, and heat milk formula. Elizabeth Matthews told the Advertiser that she struggles to sleep because of load shedding. "I sleep with a continuous positive airway pressure machine, which needs electricity. Without it, I need to sit up straight and wait for the power to return."
Several residents wanted to know if Graaff-Reinet and surrounding towns could be exempt from load shedding, due to the ongoing water crises and dependency on boreholes. The municipality did not comment in time for print whether such an appeal to Eskom was possible.
Eskom announced on Wednesday that it would implement stage two load shedding. Readers can find the schedules for the areas on the Advertiser's Facebook page. The schedules are updated as announced by Eskom.
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