Students at Tshwane North TVET College, Temba campus in Hammanskraal, who live on campus or in the surrounding area, are considering going home amid the cholera outbreak.
A student who did not want to be named said the college had been without water for days.
“When we want water we must buy it, since last week. There is water in a JoJo tank, but they said we must not drink it, they think it's contaminated,” she said.
She complained that she cannot afford to buy bottled water from the shops.
“For now we are surviving with rainwater. It was raining the past week so we collected the rainwater. We sometimes boil the water they said we must not drink,” she said.
The student and her friends said they were scared and were considering going home.
“Our parents said we must come back until the water issue is solved,” she said.
Another student from the same college, Kwanele Chauke, said the water problem had worsened, to the point where they sometimes could not attend classes.
“Sometimes we have lecturers who are not coming in due to water. Now we have students not drinking water at all. We have a JoJo tank which doesn't have proper water ... The municipality comes, but I don't know when, and fills the tank. Right now it hasn't been filled. I don't know what is happening. We are not drinking water, but we are able to use toilets,” he said.
Symptoms are a daily thing, it just goes with how strong your immune system is.
— Kwanele Chauke
Chauke said as a student with classes it was hard to keep up with the water trucks being provided by the municipality.
“We have municipal trucks which are supplying us daily, but they come at a certain time. If you miss them at 2pm, they come back at 5pm, and if you miss them again it means you must refill water from the shops. Besides that, you drink the tap water that will eventually make you sick.”
He said when he opens the tap in his room, the water is green. Chauke said the challenge was bigger than anyone can imagine.
“Symptoms are a daily thing. It just goes with how strong your immune system is. I jog a lot — even if I consume maybe two litres, I will have stomach cramps, but they won't be extreme. There are those who get diarrhoea. Where you can see that it is clean to a level you can drink, and then a level where you can't drink. Sometimes when you have drunk too much you get a runny stomach throughout the day,” he said.
He said he was drinking water from the tap as he cannot afford to buy bottled water.
“What will I do? I have to risk it because I can't be dehydrated. I take just a small portion,” Chauke said.
He said load-shedding was another reason he can't boil water.
“It's bad being a South African. Load-shedding is another problem. I don't boil the water. I just drink the water. What will I do?”
Chauke, who moved to the area a year ago, said he noticed that his body reacted to the water.
“The first time I drank the water, I had complications because it was something new introduced to my body. Now my body is familiar with this type of water. It creates a way to deal with it,” he said.
Chauke said he understood that he was at an advantage because of his strong immune system.
“I am still vibrant and active. I exercise daily, which gives me an advantage. I eat healthy, so for those who don't do that, I don't know,” he said.
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