Communities adjacent to Masoyi receive clean water sources
The Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Management Agency recently donated borehole water systems to the Phola and Makgarule communities.
The communities of Phola and Makgarule may finally breathe a sigh of relief as they now no longer have to rely a stream for water.
On Saturday August 27, the Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Management Agency (Iucma) handed over two boreholes to these residents. According to the community members, they had to walk daily to collect water, and were forced to use dirty water because they had no source of their own. They said they were happy to finally have drinking water in close proximity to their houses.
Ernest Dhlamini, one community member, said he had had to walk more than 1km to collect water.
“We had been struggling with running water for a long time now. We did not have any running water close to our homes and we were forced to use water from a stream. It is polluted water; there is refuse waste dumped there, including baby nappies. The women in the community had to wash laundry in it and our bathing water was from there, too.”
According to him, the donation has changed their lives. “We now have taps right next to our homes. This will change our lives for the better.”
Dhlamini made his home available to the agency to house the solar power module needed for the borehole.
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The deputy minister of water and sanitation, David Mahlobo, said they looked at the fact that the population in this area has increased and the community sometimes goes for days without running water.
“As a short-term intervention, we had to make a temporary relief. We discovered there was groundwater available that can be used. We had a discussion with the CEO of Iucma, Lucky Mohalaba, and the chairperson of the board. We asked them to send a hydrologist to investigate and they found a large volume of water. In the meantime, we created a storage facility in the form of these tanks. We have now made a commitment that more of the tanks will be added.”
Mahlobo said they are grateful for the role Dhlamini plays, energising the pump. “He allowed us to use his roof so that we can use the sun’s energy to power the solar system.”
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Iucma’s governing board chairperson, Sam Mthembu, said, “We face the challenge of infrastructure vandalism by community members, which has become a tremendous issue because we have to use more money to repair the damages instead of investing into more projects to meet the needs of more disadvantaged communities.”
