A whistle in Soweto alerts the community of something sinister happening. It is a criminal’s worst nightmare.
At about 8 pm on a weekday, we heard whistles and commotion on the streets. As curiosity grew, the community rushed to the streets too, perhaps others were ready for fists and punches but a peep outside our locked gate dampened any hopes of the apprehension of a criminal.
Community members were running with buckets on hand, in the dark, towards a water tanker that had come to our rescue after two days of dry taps. For context, this is Orlando West, Soweto, a few kilometres away from the Hector Peterson Memorial where 1976 students marched against the injustices of the Apartheid government.
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There we were, marching towards this water tanker for water, a basic, Constitutional need that we had been deprived of for days. People were pushing each other to fill up their buckets with water, and arguments ensued.
In fact, due to this water crisis that week, some neighbours don’t greet each other anymore because of how intense pushing to get a bucket filled got. As though we are in a jungle forced into survival mode. Our desperation for basic needs continues to be used to bring us more despair.
Recently, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, in keeping with his election campaign announced ambitious plans to create jobs for young people. Young people flocked to the Nasrec Expo Centre where promises of a ‘job expo’ were made. Upon arrival at the venue, their hopes were shattered when they were turned back because the event was postponed. Many of them had used their last cent to make it to their venue with CVs on hand.
Much like the water situation, promises were made as the third, fourth, and fifth days without water passed. We had no other choice but to get used to the water tanker coming sometime in the day. These days felt like an eternity. On the sixth day, we still had no water, but it was on the seventh day that my heart sank. I was in a sombre mood, in disbelief that it was Human Rights Day, and we were running around with buckets.
“At least they still bring us water” some residents would say. But that hurts the most, that we must be grateful for crumbs, appalling advances from the government. We have a President who brags about giving people R350 grants as part of a campaign ploy.
We have qualified doctors and teachers protesting and demanding to be employed. Graduates are sitting at home with their certificates, unemployable.
“The ANC has been sabotaged” one staunch party supporter dared to say. My frustration was beyond comprehension. It’s become a norm for the government to conveniently shift blame instead of being accountable. Even with the electricity crisis, there are always theories of sabotage. On Human Rights Day 2024, the humiliation was painful.
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While reflecting on this, I had to pause to locate where this pain and frustration were coming from. I realised that apart from a genuine concern over the state of the nation, it was also coming from a place of privilege.
I have lived in Johannesburg all my life.
A dry tap is a concept I don't understand and I am not accustomed to.
However, not having water is sadly a reality in millions of South Africans who after 30 years of democracy grapple with it. The lack of basic water and sanitation is foreign in many rural areas.In an article published by The Conversation, an audit report by Blue Drop in 2023 found that the quality of the country’s drinkable water is getting worse as an estimated 46% of all water supply systems posed acute human health risks because of bacteria in the drinking water supply.
The report also found that more than two-thirds (67.6%) of all wastewater treatment works are close to failure.
In her analysis of a 2023 report by the Water and Sanitation department, Water expert Anja du Plessis wrote, "The report found that several water supply systems were operating close to or beyond their design capacity. Monitoring and compliance were severely deficient. This makes fixing problems impossible as the scale of the issues at stake aren’t being identified."
