Water was restored to a Schotsche Kloof block of flats last Wednesday after it was suddenly disconnected due to municipal arrears of almost R15 million.

Residents of the iconic block, which is painted in the Palestinian flag, had no water for six days after it was cut on Friday June 21 by the City of Cape Town.

The residents say there was no notification before their water supply was severed, and after a meeting with the City on Wednesday June 26, the Schotsche Kloof Body Corporate had the water service restored.

Rukshana Champion, chairperson of the body corporate, says she initially assumed the water was turned off due to a maintenance issue.

“We’ve had issues with leaks in the past two months and I logged a call so that there’s an investigation and action from the City. I then contacted City officials to find out what was happening and we (body corporate) established that the water was actually cut off, and not restricted,” said Ms Champion.

“We know about the issues of water regarding the City, but it was a surprise to find the water was off. We asked what we can do to have it reconnected but they said we need to pay the full amount.”

She says they had requested a water truck for last weekend. “I requested a meeting for Tuesday with the City on Monday but they couldn’t meet. But on (Wednesday) we were contacted and told to meet up to discuss this situation, we were given four hours notice for this meeting,” she said.

Ms Champion says that there is a lengthy history of arrears for water and electricity and that they paid R24 000 at the meeting to have their water reconnected.

According to a statement from the City, meetings with the body corporate have been under way for three years.

“The City continues to engage Schotsche Kloof Body Corporate for R15 million outstanding debt. The implications of non-payment, being the restriction of services, has been made clear in various debt collection warnings sent, as is required by law. (On June 26) late afternoon, the Schotsche Kloof Body Corporate settled the current municipal account, excluding the arrears for the block of flats of which the water was restricted, in order to reinstate services.”

According to the City, the Credit Control and Debt Collection Policy, as well as the stipulations of Section 115 of the Municipal Systems Act, 32 of 2022, require the City to act to protect municipal income and execute debt management operations.

“Once the stage of final demand is reached, the City’s automated SAP accounting system pushes out the notification to teams on the ground who visit properties based on the data received. They have no knowledge of the particulars of an area or building when they arrive,” the statement says.

However, Ms Champion says there are 16 blocks of flats under the management of the body corporate and she asked City officials why only the building with the Palestine flag was disconnected.

“When you look at the list of blocks in arrears, this block is not the highest, and they just told us it’s an automated system that decides where to cut off water. People living in the block suspect that it’s due to the flag. The other blocks all have water, it was just this block,” she said.

She adds that 13 of the 16 apartments in the Palestine flag block are occupied by senior citizens.

“From an Islamic point of view these residents could not do their compulsory bathing (abdas) for their five daily prayers. They also had to fill up their toilets with water after they use it and that’s not an easy task,” she said.

Izeezah Isaacs, 82, says the inconvenience of not having water for washing and flushing the toilet was unpleasant.

“We had help from young people who would fetch and carry water for us. It was difficult, we know when there is maintenance it happens for a day, but how would you feel when you can’t even bath yourself,” said Ms Isaacs.

“For me it was not being able to flush the toilet, we are used to having water, to flush, to bath and so on but this was a terrible experience,” said Mymoena Najaar, 72.

Latiefa Esau, 72, believes they targeted the block where she lives because of the Palestinian flag.

“When you wake up in the morning for Fajr (morning prayers) there’s no water to bath, to clean yourself, and this is something most of us do,” said Ms Esau.

“I had to put three five-litre bottles in the cistern just to flush, this is not something we are used to. If there’s a burst pipe then I understand why there is no water for a few hours. This was a stressful situation, it’s worrying for us and it’s exhausting for some of us off to carry water up and down the stairs,” she said.

In a letter delivered on June 26 to the tenants of the Schotsche Kloof flats, the City demands payment by Wednesday July 3 or the electricity would be stopped and the water supply curtailed.

#water-crisis

Water restored at Schotsche Kloof block after six days