Rural village to pay for water in Giyani

The pipeline project is currently under construction and runs from Nandoni to Nsami Dam in Giyani. The project was initially aimed at benefitting 55 villages, however, it was later decided that all 96 villages in Giyani will receive water. The pipeline will be 50km long when completed. The project collapsed in 2018 due to corruption by government officials, but it was relaunched by the minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu earlier this year.

The project was expected to be completed by September 30 this year; however problems in the Vhembe area around traditional leaders refusing to let the pipeline pass through their land, delayed the project. It was resolved and the project is expected to be finished within the first months of next year. In the past water to the villages was free of charge as it was drawn from a single point with no reticulation pipeline to individual households.

This, however, resulted in illegal connections from people who wanted to avoid queues at the collecting points by connecting their own pipelines to their homes resulting in bulk water not reaching the main reservoir. Speaking during a stakeholder engagement meeting held by the Mopani District Municipality (MDM) at the Ngove Tribal Office Hall recently, David Sithole, a resident in the village asked how the new water pipeline from the Nandoni Pipeline Project would operate. Ngove is one of the villages that will receive bulk water through phase 1 of the project.

Also read: First villages get water

“I would like to know if the same pipeline is going to be used or whether a new one will be constructed,” he asked. He said the old pipeline is already riddled with illegal connections which might need to be disconnected. He also said that he himself is connected to the pipeline illegally. “I need to know if we would be required to pay for water or not so that we’re able to brace ourselves for such a payment, as you know that in the past we were not required to pay for water services from the government,” he said.

In response, MDM’s mayor, Pule Shayi said it was necessary that people pay for water as it would help to maintain the smooth running of the overall service. “Yes, you will have to pay in accordance with your affordability. We cannot have a situation where a teacher or a ward councillor does not pay for water yet they can afford it, it does not make sense,” he said. In the past residents of Section A in Giyani, a developed urban area, have argued that it was unfair to expect them to pay for water while the villages receive water free of charge.

This was an argument that was presented after the Greater Giyani Municipality embarked on a campaign for residents to pay for services.