Dopeni Phelandavha’s residents rely on polluted water

Residents of Dopeni Phelandavha village in the Nzhelele area are upset, not only because they have been without water for many years, but also because they now have to collect polluted water.

They say the only available water is wat they get from an illegal connection from a manhole in the pipeline.

Residents believe they are at risk of contracting cholera. They currently share their water resources with livestock. Getting water means climbing down the slippery manhole. They complain about the dirty water and say they somtimes find dead animals, baby nappies and other dirty things inside.

Residents who have boreholes in their yards are gaining, because they charge around R2 or more for 25 litres of water. Those who are able to deliver, charge R10 per 25-litre water container.
According to a community member, Mrs Joyce Mulaudzi, the community members in this village are prone to diseases when using unpurified stream water for drinking, washing and cooking purposes. She says they were tired of the empty promises regarding the supply of water made by the Thulamela Municipality.

Mulaudzi says villagers have no access to clean water. She also says residents have to lead a harsh life, while the municipality’s officials live a life of luxury. “The municipality distributes water using trucks, but it only comes once a month. If it comes while you are away, you will not have any water. We last saw a drop of water coming from the municipal water taps a long time ago,” she says.

"We are forced to use the water from the manhole because there is no water in the village. We were also told that we were going to receive water from the Nandoni dam, but it is not happening and we are continuing to suffer,” Mulaudzi adds. She explains that, in order to purify the water before drinking, they pour some cement or ash into the containers. This clears some of the algae and makes it appear more drinkable.

Residents are also upset about the fact that the government seems to neglect them. “No one wants to get involved with our problems here. It is high time that people start taking us seriously, as we are part of this district. We are fed up,” say the angry community members.

Mulaudzi says that the ward councillor, Mr Livhuwani Maduze, was being disrespectful to them. She adds that the neighbouring Mandala, Tshikmbani and Tshivhidulu villages, which fall under the same ward, have water all the time. “We tried to travel to the bush, which is dangerous to collect water, but it is really not working, because it is far,” she says. “My people, like the residents of Dopeni, also deserve basic water.” When contacted for comment, Cllr Livhuwani Maduze dismissed claims that he was not attending to the problems of the community members in the village. When asked about the residents´ concern that he only concentrated on the Mandala village where he was staying, Maduze said it was not true. He agreed that Dopeni is facing a water problem. He said that he reported the matter to the Vhembe dsitrict to address the problem.

The spokesperson of the Vhembe Municipality, Matodzi Ralushai, denied the claim that the residents had spent many years going without water. He said the municipality made use of water tankers to deliver water to the area. Ralushai further said that the municipality had drilled boreholes to address the problem of water in the area. He warned those people who are still using the water for cooking and drinking purposes not to do so and he warned against illegal connections. He said that those found doing illegal connections would be arrested.

Date:17 April 2015

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.

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