‘We want water, we want service delivery’ — disgruntled Joburg residents take to the streets

‘I’m fed up. My main thing is the power outages. My dad is 83 years old. He is on oxygen. I need power to run his oxygen machine,” said Jackie Vermaak, a 56-year-old resident of Kensington in Johannesburg’s east.

Vermaak uses a generator to run her father’s oxygen machine during power cuts.

She was one of about 150 marchers whose patience for the declining service delivery in the area had run out. Clad in black, residents from Kensington and Bezuidenhout Valley staged a protest march on Tuesday, complaining of random electricity and water cuts.

Duane Riley, a Kensington resident and the convener of the march, said an electricity cable in the area was recently damaged.

“The quick fix was for City Power to install an inadequately suitable cable, which resulted in power tripping every two to three days.

“City Power blamed us for using too much power, which the infrastructure cannot handle, which is nonsense because we pay for the electricity and water that we use,” Riley said.  

The community say they have been battling load shedding, load reduction and water shedding for some years. They blamed the area’s problems on a lack of maintenance of the electricity and water infrastructure.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Why Johannesburg’s taps keep running dry — An expert explains

The protesters chanted as they made their way from Rhodes Park in Kensington to the Darras Centre where officials from Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda’s office were waiting to receive their petition.

“Fix our roads, no illegal connections, we want water, we want service delivery, we deserve better, enough is enough,” the marchers called in unison.

“No more corruption, no more potholes, drug-free suburbs, we want safety, save our youth, save our schools, save our legacy, we pay for our service, we deserve good service, we deserve competent officers, we take charge,” they continued.

When asked how long the problems in the area had been going on, Vermaak chuckled sarcastically before responding: “Ah, so many years. Load shedding … the illegal dumping is terrible, the drugs, the crime has gone up. It’s very bad and it’s been going on for many years.”

Owen van der Poel, a 67-year-old Bez Valley resident, said, “I’m fed up with illegal dumping, the overcrowding of properties and litter.”

Van der Poel said the overcrowding was caused by people who built rooms on their properties and rented them out.

He said they had reported the problems to the authorities, but received no response.

“We are constantly faced with outages and we are completely powerless,” said Fleur Honeywell, a 54-year-old Kensington resident and one of the leaders of the demonstration.

“It’s not our geysers that are draining the power, it’s illegal connections,” she said.

“Our suburbs are one of the oldest in the area and they were designed for a minimal number of people per house. Our water infrastructure is collapsing. The pipes are bursting,” Honeywell said.

Lack of maintenance