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When you have something like Day Zero looming large on the horizon, nerves tend to get frayed around the edges.
There has already been physical conflict at Newlands spring, with one individual arrested by the SAPS, and the Water and Sanitation Department, Parks and Recreation was forced to issue new rules regarding access and use of the spring.
I suppose they had to try, but a new report on Times LIVE shows that residents in the area continue to feel like they’re under fire:
Video footage from a resident’s CCTV system shows bakkies being filled with hundreds of litres of water, and residents claiming the spring is being abused.
Ward councillor Ian Iversen told Times Select it had been an “horrific situation” for residents.
“It’s totally illegal. I’ve had dealings with [Rawoot] and it goes back many months. He just claimed that he had permission from the roads branch, and they said absolutely not, then he claimed the water branch had given him permission and he spread a story that I had given him permission, which is equal nonsense,” he said.
The Rawoot mentioned above is Riyaz Rawoot, who calls himself a “water revolutionary”, and was responsible for installing a “makeshift system of PVC pipes held up by wood and bricks [which] provides a constant stream of water”.
The video insert covers all of that and some added spice:
Here’s more from residents at Creswell House old-age home:
[They] said the noise of trolleys ferrying water night and day to cars at the end of the street kept them awake.
Alice Sampson has been living in the home for 17 years. She said that they longed for the peace and quiet they used to enjoy to return.
“My husband and I used to play here in the street, we used to play Frisbee in the street. Now we can’t, man, and we’re much older, my husband died,” said Sampson.
She said the council had promised for months that the collection point would be moved to a different location.
The fact that one of the city’s premier springs is situated slap bang in the middle of one of the more affluent areas was always going to cause unrest, and here we are today.
If you are heading there to fill up, you can buy your 25-litre containers here. If you live in the area, good luck.
[source:timeslive]
