Parched community members urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to fix water the ongoing supply issues in the area.

"Mister President, our biggest problem here, is water," an elderly resident of Mandela Village in Hammanskraal told ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday.

Ramaphosa was on an election registration drive in the area where early this year, more than 24 people died following the outbreak of a waterborne disease.

Hammanskraal is a sprawling settlement which includes urban and peri-urban settlements north of the capital Pretoria.

It's an area characterised by ageing and dilapidated infrastructure, potholed roads, crime, high levels of poverty, unemployment and the extensive abuse of the drug nyaope [heroin].

But during their interaction with Ramaphosa residents listed dry taps among their top troubles.

"Waaaaaater is our biggest problem," the elder speaking in Setswana said, shaking his head in frustration.

The lack of a reliable water supply was a constant lament by residents during Ramaphosa's door-to-door walkabout in the area.

To an ear unfamiliar with the prevailing conditions here, the lament might have sounded like a rehearsed chorus by an electorate eager to get the ruling party president's ear.

But residents here face the daily challenge of dry taps which, when they do eventually run, release a murky, foul-smelling liquid which some say they don't even risk feeding to...