LIMPOPO – Both national and provincial roads leading to the region’s economic hub in Tzaneen and the ancestral town of Modjadjiskloof have been closed for weeks in the area due to the protracted shutdown. Commuters using the roads to work and schools have been left stranded after the angry community of Bolobedu North and South barricaded the roads with trunks of trees, burning tires and huge rocks.
Learners and teachers have been missing their preliminary examination papers in the wake of the continued shutdown.
“We want nothing but clean running water for our day-to-day household needs,” said resident, Kgomotso Letsoalo, on Monday.
Like any other resident, Letsoalo has been using an alternative route to work in Tzaneen since the strike started.
But now her only alternative route has also been closed.
The shutdown of schools in Bolobedu comes weeks after schools in Vuwani also embarked on a two weeks shutdown that saw more than 20 schools closed indefinitely.
Last Monday, the community of Bolobedu South joined in the strike in Bolobedu North and closed all roads leading to town to persuade government to supply them with clean running water.
The residents claim over 500 boreholes in the area were drilled but no single drop of water was available in the taps.
“We are forced to drink contaminated river water, used by wild animals, to cook wash and bath. That is not what we voted for. We voted for clean running water, electricity supply, better healthcare facilities, education and a roof over our heads. That is what we voted for. But for over 20 years now, we still live like foreign nationals in our land of birth. We demand clean running water now or else, otla nkga gosa bola, a Sepedi idiom meaning ‘all hell will break loose’,” said Bolobedu South ANC activist, Cows Matlou, during the strike on Friday.
The Mayor for the Greater Letaba Municipality, Peter Matlou, pleaded with protesters to clear the roads and let learners go back to classes.
“For the sake of our children, we appeal to the protesters to call off the strike so that learning and teaching can go back to its national agenda,” pleaded Matlou.
Matlou, who was just elected ANC Mopani Deputy Secretary, said the demands by the community were genuine.
“For their demands to be met, we need to open the road and afford stakeholders to attend to the problems while our children are in classrooms learning and our teachers teaching,” he said.
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, Lulu Johnson, said the irony in the borehole debacle is that service providers charged nearly R2 million a borehole, which later did not emit water.
The Mayor for the Mopani District Municipality, Nkakareng Rakgoale, said the district is attending to the impasse.
Water and Sanitation Department Spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau, said an amount of R60 billion was needed to address water woes for good.
“Once the money is made available, it will be allocated for use to tackle some of the challenges pertaining to water,” he said.
