LETTER: Dear Sol Plaatje Municipality, I am writing to express my sincere appreciation for your innovative approach to time management. However, this eight-day five-day water shutdown isn’t working for me. It’s time for you to come clean (excuse the pun), be honest and tell us the truth about what is going on.
Dear esteemed officials of Sol Plaatje Municipality,
I hope this letter finds you well, or at least moderately hydrated. I write to you as a humble resident of our beloved city, currently experiencing an unexpected extension to our “holiday from H2O”.
You see, we embarked on a journey, a five-day adventure without water, which was fun for a while, in the same way that cholera, diarrhoea and dysentery are. However, it appears that our five-day voyage has taken a detour and we find ourselves on day eight, still parched and longing for the sweet sound of running water.
Now, I’m no mathematician, but something about this eight-day five-day water shutdown equation doesn’t quite add up. It’s almost as if we’ve stumbled into a parallel universe where time expands and contracts at will. Fascinating for a science fiction novel, less so for personal hygiene.
I understand that maintaining a city’s water supply is no easy task and unforeseen complications can arise. However, as I sit here, reminiscing about the joy of a full kettle and the luxury of a hot shower, I can’t help but feel that our water-less week has overstayed its welcome.
You say you have encountered some “glitches” in your grand plan. Excuse me, but “glitches” doesn’t sound like the right word – as if you’re talking about a minor hiccup, not a city-wide water f-up.
Only a few days ago, you were patting yourselves on the back for a job well done on the Riverton pipeline. Fast forward to today, and Kimberley residents are left high and dry, quite literally. The irony is as bitter as the morning coffee we can’t make due to the lack of water.
Your latest update is that you are “still finalising planning” in terms of how this new setback will affect residents. In a situation as critical as a water shutdown, I find this response quite unsettlingly, to say the very least. It sounds very much the opposite to me – like there was no planning, no contingencies put in place.
The residents of Kimberley deserve to know what’s going on and they deserve a municipality that’s proactive in addressing their needs.
Please, for the love of all things wet, tell us the truth about our current dilemma and how you plan to restore our water supply.
Our family, friends and underarms would greatly appreciate your swift and honest reply to this matter.
Yours (with a dry sense of humour),
Monty Quill
