Plumtree town has gone for a week without running water after a ZESA power line broke down.
When taps initially ran dry, local authorities said that Plumtree was embarking on a two-day pipe maintenance programme.
However, after the two-day period had elapsed, the council blamed a faulty ZESA power line.
The development has forced residents to fetch water from unsafe water sources as the town has no boreholes.
Town secretary Davies Dumezweni Luthe explained to Newsday the cause of the water crisis being experienced in Plumtree. He said:
A Zesa power line is down at Mhlanga Dam. Zesa authorities are working on it.
Firstly, it was a planned maintenance programme and electricity also contributed to the problem, but now it’s vandalism of pipes coming from the dam to the town.
However, a ZESA official dismissed the council’s version of events, saying that the water crisis had nothing to do with power cuts.