Musina residents call for consistent water supply

Musina residents were left fuming after water taps had gone dry for three days.

Residents said that they had no water for domestic use and could not even bath during this period. Some complained that they had to use bush toilets. This problem left them very frustrated, as they could not afford to buy water.

The community claims that the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) took their time in responding to the crisis. According to Grace Kgalamadi, a local resident, this was not the first time they experienced water problems. “Nearly every week one of the townships’ taps run dry, but they always bill us. The municipality should replace the old pipes, since they are always breaking,” she said.

“What the municipality is doing is like bandaging a broken leg with a cloth. We are tired of this,” said Kgalamadi. “I am unemployed. Where does the municipality expect me to get water from? A 25-litre container costs R25. For a day, I need at least 100 litres. Really, I cannot afford it.”

In response to the media enquiry, the spokesperson for the VDM, Matodzi Ralushai, said that vandalism and theft played a major role in this regard. “Our source of water is from the Limpopo River. It is in no-man's land, where soldiers are not allowed to operate. Thugs are very dangerous as they are always armed. The security provided by Musina Local Municipality is not able to deal with that,” he said. Ralushai said that the water problems experienced two weeks ago was the result of the contractor appointed by Coghsta, who was busy preparing for the construction of new housing units.

Ralushai said that, since this crisis had been reported, tankers had been deployed in Musina and that the VDM had managed to restore the water system, although some higher areas were still without water.

According to Dickson Khuele, the Musina Municipality should run its own water affairs.

“Vhembe Municipality takes time to attend to our water issues. If our municipality becomes the water authority, we as a community can easily engage with our own municipality,” said Khuele.

Sewani Kaunda, another resident of the area, claimed that the water pipes distributing water from pump stations to the community had been installed more than five decades ago and were dilapidated. “The pipes were installed by the then copper mine, and since then the municipality has never maintained them,” said Kaunda.

Ralushai said that the VDM needed to source funds for them to upgrade and construct new infrastructure.

Date:28 November 2020

By: Bernard Chiguvare

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

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