People living in Matzikama Municipality are dealing with nasty brown tap water that smells terrible, and residents stormed council chambers after getting fed up with officials saying the sketchy-looking liquid is totally safe to drink. Mayor Johan van der Hoven showed up but refused to commit to actual fixes, which made everyone even more pissed off. Towns like Vredendal and Vanrhynsdorp have been dealing with rusty pipes and low reservoir levels that turn their drinking water into something resembling mud.
The municipality claims natural sediment and old infrastructure cause the discoloration, but locals say their kids are getting stomach problems from using it. Power cuts hit ten towns recently when prepaid meters got installed, and pumps stopped working without electricity to move water through the system.
Officials scheduled a meeting to hear complaints after manager Lionel Phillips insisted nobody deliberately sent contaminated water through the network. The region has dealt with broken pipes and drought issues for years, with previous crises leaving taps dry for over a week at a time.
The municipality claims natural sediment and old infrastructure cause the discoloration, but locals say their kids are getting stomach problems from using it. Power cuts hit ten towns recently when prepaid meters got installed, and pumps stopped working without electricity to move water through the system.
Officials scheduled a meeting to hear complaints after manager Lionel Phillips insisted nobody deliberately sent contaminated water through the network. The region has dealt with broken pipes and drought issues for years, with previous crises leaving taps dry for over a week at a time.
