‘No pay no way’ – Driefontein farmer
The new reservoir was built a year ago and was supposed to pump one million litres of water into the old reservoir for the residents.
More than a year after a reservoir was built in Driefontein, residents are still without a drop of running water due to an eight-yearlong payment dispute between KwaDukuza municipality (KDM) and a local farmer.
The Driefontein farmer says he has not been paid R125 000 by KDM for a bus route built across his land in 2010.
As a result, he is now refusing to allow KDM to connect pipelines run across his farmland.
Ward 21 councillor Tommy du Toit said this was a huge problem as residents are without water for more than two weeks at a time.
A new sewage project for the area has also been halted.
“Sewage systems cannot work without water and this is a basic service that everyone needs.
The new reservoir was built a year ago and was supposed to pump one million litres of water into the old reservoir for the residents.
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Right now their homes do not have water, nor is there water in the standpipes. The boreholes are dried up and the pumps have been stolen.
“People are at the mercy of water tankers that do not go into the area every day because the roads are so bad. KDM has not paid the farmer what was due for eight years.”
Driefontein resident Wiseman Bhila said the water situation was dire.
“This is no way for people to live and we need water in our homes. Other areas have standpipes but all we have are water tankers which do not always come through.”
Resident Wilson Myeni said the situation was horrible. He said their only hope of water was rain.
“Sometimes puddles form when it rains and we collect that water in buckets and use that.”
Cllr Du Toit, who has been following the issue since 2016, said he found the main problem was that KDM did not know which of their departments should be responsible for the payment.
The employee who had initially been handling the matter apparently died and no one had taken over the case since.
“Because the projects are in the hands of the farmer, we are now finding that there is a bit of feedback on the issue. I have been told that KDM will pay the farmer the original amount but that they would not pay the interest accumulated over eight years. Instead, they will re-evaluate the land and offer him the additional money.”
The farmer who asked to remain anonymous said he was not holding back the project out of spite and he believed the issue would be resolved soon.
KDM media liaison Sipho Mkhize confirmed they were close to resolving the issue.
“We have met with the farmer over the past few months and days and believe that our discussions were fruitful. We have just received an invoice from the farmer that is being processed and assurance can be given that the whole invoiced amount will be in his possession by latest next week.”
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