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They may have some of the higher rates bills in the Helderberg, but residents of the mountainside suburb of Helderberg Estate are getting a raw deal from the City of Cape Town. On a number of occasions, their water has dried up without warning - sometimes only returning hours later and even the following day.

To add insult to injury, when the municipality is phoned, calls go unanswered.

"You don't have access to the right people," declares Ronnie Immelman of Helderspruit Road.

Two other residents in the area told DistrictMail the situation had cost them hundreds of rands after their geysers had burst when water suddenly returned. One of them, the owner of an upmarket guesthouse, says the situation cost her even more money because she felt she couldn't charge her guests at the time for a night without water.

She also tried to get help from the municipality, but no-one responded, she says.

The water situation in high-lying areas such as Helderberg Estate has been a problem for local residents for some time. The area is supplied from a network of reservoirs, situated higher up against the mountain and managed by the local authority, to which water is pumped. When the water dried up last week, it was the last straw for Mr Immelman who told DistrictMail the local officials had been of no help when he told them in the past two months his water had been off on close to 10 occasions, the latest of which lasted 36 hours. He contacted area town councillor Gisela Jespersen and soon afterwards the water returned.

"A technician found a faulty valve that restricted water flow," Mr Immelman says, adding the situation may have arisen when the fire brigade used water from one of the reservoirs to douse a fire near Helderberg College a few months ago.

DistrictMail requested comment and an explanation for the problem, from the City of Cape Town's Water Services division on Wednesday last week. But the request has met with the same treatment experienced by other people looking for help from the municipality - resounding silence.

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