This farming town is in one of the country’s three maize belt provinces, the others being North West and Mpumalanga, and is one of the hardest hit dorpies in the country, and its residents are at their wits’ end due to their predicament.
I happened to find myself in this town over the festive season when I was in search of feed for my four-legged friends at our smallholding in Vryheid, and the lack of water in the town was apparent.
Public and private ablution blocks in the town and township were a no-go zone. If you had a call of nature, residents could only refer you to the nearest bush.
“Unfortunately, we can’t offer any of those facilities as we don’t want to remain burdened by the stench of your nature’s call when you’re gone. The water shortage has made us one of the most unfriendly towns to our much-loved visitors,” remarked one anonymous restaurant owner when I asked to use the restroom.
So desperate is the water situation in Senekal, one farmer is said to have shot all his livestock as he was unable to provide drinking water for them. Another is said to have tried to auction his animals at a bargain price but no one was biting, so he apparently wanted to give them away, but nobody wanted to be burdened by having to feed and water the animals either.
Thankfully, help is on its way to Senekal with water tankers being despatched from Johannesburg and as far afield as Port Elizabeth.
Here in Johannesburg, and Alexandra specifically, we seem to have plenty of water to drink, bathe, flush our toilets, water our gardens and wash our cars. Gauteng residents need to take heed of the Senekal situation and start to learn to conserve our precious water.
Joburg Water also needs to come to the party and step up a gear when it comes to fixing broken and leaking pipes in our streets.
One of the worst places where water is wasted is at the three hostels in Alexandra. During a recent visit by former Social Development MEC Faith Mazibuko, broken taps and pipes were the order of the day and were spurting water 24/7.
