Limpopo hospital’s water woes temporarily resolved

A visit by Deputy Minister for Water and Sanitation David Mahlobo to the water-challenged Philadelphia Hospital in Groblersdal, in Limpopo’s Sekhukhune district, has brought much-needed relief to the patients and communities around the cross-border Elias Motsoaledi Local municipality.

Patients at the hospital had earlier voiced concerns about the hospital’s taps running dry, creating fears of infections spiralling out of control.

Mahlobo, together with Sekhukhne district municipality mayor Stan Ramaila, visited the hospital on Monday after constant calls by the patients, who called for government’s urgent intervention.

The hospital had two boreholes, one of which was dysfunctional for months now, leaving patients without water for bathing and drinking.

“We had serious problems here. We always lived in abject fear for contracting the dangerous Covid-19 because of the water shortages,” said one patient, who preferred to speak on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation.

“Our toilets do not have water and [same with] our bathrooms. To use the bathrooms you need to wake up in the wee hours of the morning before anyone else so that you can use the little reserves in the buckets. I have full two days without bathing since I was admitted in this hospital.”

But the visit by Mahlobo and Ramaila on Monday seems to have changed all that.

Mahlobo and Ramaila convinced the nearby Dennilton Plot Owners to allow authorities to use boreholes located in their plots to immediately equip the remaining borehole and help supply the Philadelphia Hospital with enough water.

“We are pleading with the hospital management to effectively find ways to manage the hospital water supply as this will help them to have enough water, even if there’s a technical challenge with pumping,” said Mahlobo.

Mahlobo also promised that his department would provide about 4,000 storage tankers to communities of Moutse to mitigate the effects of the drought conditions.

Ramaila lauded the Dennilton Plot Owners for putting communities’ needs first by opening their hearts and their hands and providing the community with water at their time of need.

“The plot owners have demonstrated that they are the true ambassadors of the Thuma Mina clarion call made by President Cyril Ramaphosa.”

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