BY RICHARD MUPONDE
PLUMTREE has gone without running water for a week due to a broken down Zesa power line, a situation which has left residents and travellers stranded.
The border town ran dry last week after councillors announced that Plumtree was embarking on a two-day pipe maintenance programme.
However, after the period lapsed, water was not restored and the local authority said a faulty Zesa power line was to blame.
Residents are now fetching water from unprotected wells since the town has no community boreholes. Open defecation is also posing a health hazard to both residents and visitors to the transit town.
Plumtree District Hospital and the border post, which serve hundreds of travellers, have also been affected by the water cuts.
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Town secretary Davies Dumezweni Luthe said a faulty power line at the water reservoir had stalled their pumps.
“A Zesa power line is down at Mhlanga Dam. Zesa authorities are working on it,” Luthe said. However, council chairperson Fanisani Dube said vandalism of infrastructure had led to the water crisis.
“Firstly, it was a planned maintenance programme and electricity also contributed to the problem, but now it’s vandalism of pipes coming from the dam to the town,” Dube said.
Zesa Plumtree area manager Victor Ndawana, in his update to the Plumtree Civil Protection Unit, refuted allegations that the water problems were caused by power cuts. “It’s not true that the water problems are as a result of power cuts,” Ndawana said.