This is according to the spokesperson for the municipality, Steve Nale. OFM News previously reported that residents of Tumahole in Parys have been severely impacted by the effects of water shedding and have been forced to take extreme measures to access water in the absence of tankers delivering water.

Nale said the water situation in Ngwathe municipality has been dire due to outdated infrastructure and a growing population.

He explained residents who mostly live in informal settlements are the most affected and have been experiencing water shedding, with some going without water supply for the past two years.

He said the municipality has started with alternative measures that will ensure residents are not permanently affected by water shedding in the future.

ALSO READ: Free State residents 'forced to fetch water from manholes'

"Boreholes are also another alternative the technical department is exploring. Filling up the water network is going to require a combination of strategies. Boreholes will supplement the network while filling the reservoirs.

"But for now, we don't want to talk about it until it has been implemented and we see the result. Then we'll be able to say we can tell a positive story.

"So for the time being, those are the projects the technical department is working on to ensure the issue of water challenges receives immediate attention." 

ALSO READ: Free State premier meets with municipalities over water issues

Free State Premier Mxolisi Dukwana recently vowed it wouldn’t be "business as usual" for underperforming municipalities across the province, where water shortages, among other service delivery issues, have left residents fuming.

Nale said residents have been up in arms over the water-shedding situation in Ngwathe, however, municipal management and councillors have taken steps to inform residents about projects that will be implemented to solve the challenging situation.

"Unfortunately, residents have been embarking on service delivery protests to put pressure on the municipality to speed up this particular process.

"The mayor was also talking to the stakeholders, including our councillors, to say, "Let's find a way to involve our residents in terms of updating them. When you update residents consistently they get to see what you are doing.

"This is one of the issues the mayor emphasised, the sooner the better. We've been sending out updates since we first started. We have been visiting these specific projects to ensure they fulfil their mandate."

OFM News