Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa has brought relief to residents in five informal settlements in the Madibeng local municipality by reopening seven resuscitated boreholes at the weekend.

Until recently, residents in the areas were forced to wait for water deliveries, which were made once weekly by the municipality. The identified communities have a population of more than 7000 residents who have been relying on the unreliable service.

The municipality is notorious for its water woes, which have been pinned on an aging infrastructure that can no longer sustain the volumes required by the communities.

Last week the community of Latlhabile ran amok, barricading roads and throwing stones in protest over poor service delivery. Other communities have threatened to do the same.

However, Molewa could have well averted similar riots when she handed over the seven boreholes on Saturday.