Joburg residents braving dry taps question their voting decisions

Some disgruntled residents in the south of Johannesburg have blamed themselves for ongoing water woes, saying the community should have long voted out a government that fails to deliver services.

On Thursday, a group of community members holding placards sang in protest at the Xavier Bridge after facing a four-day complete water outage.

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This, while the rest of the province contends with longer periods of irregular supply.

Seventy-seven-year-old Fred Chettigadu participated in the protest, saying he feels that government is not focused on improving the lives of South Africans.

He said that at his old age, he has to carry large buckets of water from tankers.

“I think the government needs to focus on an important project. I think they not worried about the people on the street. I think we must blame ourselves because we need to vote for people that can vote for us.”

Democratic Alliance (DA) Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille echoed the sentiment.

“The only way to solve it is by changing your local government - that’s the truth of the matter, that is how people have to solve this matter. A protest is important, it’s symbolic, but it won’t bring back the water; only changing the government will.”