“We go for weeks without water”

“Since last year, we have been receiving water inconsistently and this is worrying us very much. It shows the municipality responsible for water and sanitation in Musina does not care for the residents,” said Bergview and Matswale residents.

Vriepa Swiebers, a resident of Bergview for 16 years, said that they had been visiting the municipality to inform them about the inconsistent water supply, “but they tell us lots of stories. At times they say cables have been stolen, so no pumping of water takes place”.

Swiebers stays with her 94-year-old father and she is not comfortable to let her father drink or bath in dirty water coming from the water taps. “We sometimes go for almost a week without water and when it resumes flowing into the taps, the water is terribly dirty,” said Swiebers.

Fortunately, she has a borehole. Neighbours come begging her to sell water to them, but she provides it to them for free.

Another resident hailing from Matswale says that, at times, they go for almost two weeks without tap water. “This is a challenge to the community. We sometimes travel far to fetch from those who have boreholes, but it is difficult carrying a 20-litre bucket of water on my head for almost two or three kilometres.”

Mr Matodzi Ralushai from Vhembe Municipality said the municipality was aware of the water issue in Musina. "Musina water supply has been targeted by criminals vandalising cables, resulting in the collapse or shutdown of the supply," says Ralushai. He adds that the district uses water tankers as intervention and that security measures are being planned to protect the system.

Date:01 March 2020

By: Bernard Chiguvare

Bernard Chiguvare is a Zimbabwean-born journalist. He writes mainly for the online publication, Groundup.

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