Balotjaneng residents demand Phase 2 of water reticulation to be completed

Balotjaneng residents urged Modikwa Platinum Mine to complete phase two of the water reticulation project in the village.

Modikwa officially handed the phase one of this project over to the Sekhukhune District Municipality (SDM) on May 2.

The event was attended by the SDM executive mayor, Minah Bahula, as well as Fetakgomo Tubatse Local Municipality (FTLM) mayor, Eddie Maila.

Prior to the handover, angry residents threatened to disrupt the event, indicating that the project was incomplete.

They alleged some of the tanks in the project were leaking and the village is still experiencing water problems.

“Why are they doing the handover while the other project is incomplete?” questioned one of the community members. “We cannot have people cutting ribbons while the project is not finished. Some sections of this community still have no water.”

Bahula and Maila intervened, calming the residents. They thanked them for raising their issues in a polite way.

“We are glad that you are here to raise your grievances. We now know that the Balotjaneng people have challenges with water. We will engage the mine and ensure that this project is fully completed. We appreciate the effort by the mine to bring something to the community. The SDM has the capacity to also complete the project.”

Modikwa’s social performance leader, Phineas Makuwa, said they will engage their head office, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), with regards to the phase two of the project.

“We appreciate the residents for raising their grievances and we will sit down with ARM, the SDM and the FTLM to find a solution to the outstanding project.”

Both ARM and Modikwa promised to provide feedback to the communities within a period of the three weeks.