Residents will not share their water with animals

Residents from Vuvha-Dzulawosedza are adamant that they will not share their water resources with animals. When the government could not manage to provide running water at the village, the residents resolved to find their own solutions and started collecting money to build the necessary infrastructure.

The residents' “Plan B” to ensure a stable supply of clean water for household use entailed collecting R4 900 from each family. This money was then used to drill a borehole and install the necessary pipelines to provide water to the various households. The money was used to equip the borehole and set up the required infrastructure to provide the water to the families who contributed to the project.

Community members who could not raise the required money to make the contribution still have to fetch water from the contaminated river, which is some five kilometres from the village.

One of the residents, Mr Edward Nemakonde, said that as a community they felt they had been robbed of their votes. “We voted for better lives during the elections, but our votes have turned into a nightmare for us. We want clean water from the taps as promised during the election campaign,” said Nemakonde.

Another villager, Mr Thifulufhelwi Makhado, said he was comfortable with the arrangement, because he was able to access water without having to go through the trouble of carrying a heavy bucket for a long distance.

The spokesperson of the Vhembe District Municipality, Mr Matodzi Ralushai, said that the community of Vuvha was suffering because of illegal connections to the water supply in the area. “As government we are trying by all means possible to provide water, but people are preventing poor people from getting water. Let us try and share the little water we have, so that every resident can have running water for domestic use,” appealed Ralushai.

He further said that the residents would get clean water soon as the Department of Water Affairs had finalised the necessary logistical planning.

Date:11 December 2014

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

Read: 1088