Still no running water for Muhlava after 30 years
The meeting ended with community members wanting the municipality to go back the drawing board and come back with a better solution that include all the wards.
Residents from the Muhlava area near Tzaneen are furious over the lack of service delivery from the Mopani District Municipality.
The area hasn’t had running water in their homes for the past 30 years and has to rely on borehole water found in designated areas.
Remember Shirindi, one of the community members, said he is tired of using borehole water.
“Before I had a wife and kids, I had to fetch water using a wheelbarrow. Now my son is 15-years-old and he is still carrying water with a wheelbarrow. What is frustrating, is that no one can tell us when we will finally have water.”
ALSO READ: Farmers run at a loss as avocado theft surges
A member of the community task team, Kenneth Dube, said that they are tired of the lies and promises from the Mopani municipality.
“We are currently dealing with the Coronavirus where we are told to wash our hands to be safe, but our community still doesn’t have a reliable water source. We even had a strike in 2015 and they told us they will provide us with water in our homes. Since then Mopani has deployed more than six contractors yet we still don’t have water.”
After the 2015 strike, the Mopani municipality introduced a water project where they installed water pipes in the area which has not been completed. Last year, parts of Ward 24 which covers areas such as Zhangoma and Sasekani were supplied with water but residents are not satisfied with the fact that they can only access the water through a schedule, which can be once a week.
The boreholes that were previously installed by the municipality are not working and the community blames it on their lack of maintenance. Residents from Ward 32 and 18 have to rely on buying water from people who have boreholes and water tanks.
Community members demanded a meeting with the municipality wanting answers to their water crisis, which was held at Muhlava Head Kraal. MMC of Infrastructure Development Services, Given Malatji, and MMC of Water Services, Maditshego Sefufi of the Mopani District attended the meeting alongside Ward 24 councillor, Thomas Mushwana and Ward 32 councillor Rachel
Motseteng as well as members from the Gumela construction company.
According to Malatji, the Mopani municipality was allocated R11 million to the first phase of fixing the water crisis. He gave the residents a presentation on what they would implement.
“As the Mopani District Municipality, we have to make sure that we have a plan in place to deal with the problems being faced by the community. For now, we want to put up temporary means for water while we continue to search for a water source for the pipes.”
The proposed plan includes building an 80 kilo litre steel tank in Shikwambana village and refurbishing the existing 400 kilo litre reservoir in the Muhlava-Kraal area which are in Ward 24 and 32. They also plan new boreholes and refurbish old pumps in these wards.
The community rejected their proposal at the meeting due to the fact that Ward 18, which covers areas such as JB, Marikana, and Dan village, were not included in the proposed first phase project.
Community members from Ward 18 believe they should be covered because that is what they were promised after the 2015 negotiations. The community was also not satisfied with the lack of accountability from their councillors and have lost faith in their ability to deliver on any projects proposed by the municipality.
They called for the removal of Ward 24 councillor, Thomas Mushwana, because of his incompetence in dealing with their water crisis. The community also questioned the corruption allegations into the failed water projects.
The meeting ended with community members wanting the municipality to go back the drawing board and come back with a better solution that include all the wards. The spokesperson of the Mopani District Municipality, Odas Ngobeni, said that the municipality is aware that the water supply in the area is nowhere near 100% perfect hence they are implementing this project.
ALSO READ: 27 people sought for testing after Ladysmith’s first Covid-19 patient is arrested
They already appointed a contractor, Gumela Construction, to implement the SubScheme Phase 1 which Malatji proposed to the community. According to the municipality this project is only temporary while they work on the Ritavi 2 Water Scheme Project which consists of four phases that will lay down bulk pipelines in Zhangoma in Ward 24 and Shikwambana in Ward 32 with the final phase being reticulation for areas in Ward 18.
The municipality plans to move forward with the project and believe they will have consistent supply of water in the area upon completion of the project. The municipality is also concerned about reactionary forces that are trying to hijack water projects throughout the district for their own interest.
They appeal to communities not to be used by these forces whose agenda is to delay the implementation of these projects and to agitate the community to fight against the municipality.
