An elderly woman draws water from an insects-ridden pond as amid the water crisis in Ndwedwe. Picture: Supplied
AS THEIR hopes to have proper running water remain a pipe dream, residents of the eKwazini and Gunjini villages in Ndwedwe are forced consume water from the same source as livestock.
Despite the Ndwedwe Local Municipality installing taps in every yard, water hasn’t flowed through them for about 13 years.
Instead, families have resorted to drawing water from dubious sources, including river streams and ponds, to quench their needs.
As the situation escalates, community leaders and residents are calling for urgent government intervention.
Speaking about the plight of the residents, Zibonele Ngcobo, the chairperson of the Ndwedwe Development Committee, said they have endured living without water for more than ten years.
“We are now fed up with promises. We are suffering without water for such a long time, it has become unbearable. We urge the national government to intervene and sort things out,” said Ngcobo.
He said it was baffling that they did not have water while every home was fitted with taps.
Ngcobo told the Daily News that they used to have running water until the services were abruptly cut-off in 2012 by the municipality.
The reason given for the cutting-off the water was that the reservoir had broken down and needed to be fixed.
In the absence of a reliable water supply, the municipality promised the delivery of water via tankers. However, these deliveries have proven to be both inconsistent and inadequate, according to residents.
Ngcobo said the community was disgruntled with the municipality’s stance.
“We tried to fight against this decision and staged many marches to the mayor’s offices, but the municipality disregarded us and imposed water tankers on us,” he remarked.
The situation was especially vexing for elderly people and young children who walk about a kilometre to access water from a river stream.
A stagnant pond teeming with insects is the source for some to meet their daily needs.
A frail and elderly resident, Gogo Thembeni Mkhize, 69, shared a heart-wrenching story, due to the water crisis.
“Life used to be better until they decided to disconnect the water supply to our villages. I have to walk long distances to fetch water, or I pay young boys to go and draw water for me. This is such a painful thing to experience. It would have been better if we didn’t know the life of having running water,” said Mkhize.
Like Ngcobo, Mkhize said it did not make sense for the municipality use the services of private water tankers.
“I am old, maybe I am missing something, I really don’t understand why they cut the running water and gave us water tankers, which were unreliable. Their supply of water has been erratic. When the tankers don’t arrive, we are forced to drink water with cows and goats. We don’t have any other options,” said Mkhize.
Mzwandile Shezi, another resident, said: “All we want is for the supply of water to resume. They indicated in 2014 that the reason for shutting down the water supply was a broken reservoir. How come it is yet to be fixed?”
Some residents, who did not want to be named, alleged that the water tankers belonged to certain politicians who were milking the municipality for their services. However, the Daily News could not independently verify this claim.
Irate residents have held several protests, which culminated in a mass protest in 2017, where the residents went on a rampage and ransacked the municipal offices, owing to the water crisis.
Seven people were arrested but later released on warning.
Earlier this week, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) briefed the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation and cited high vacancy, infrastructure decay and the so-called water mafia as the reason for the water crisis plaguing many provinces, including KwaZulu-Natal.
Municipality Speaker Mduduzi Cele conceded that the crisis stemmed from a lack of capacity in the reservoir serving Ndwedwe.
“The water demand has increased significantly in our area because our communities have been growing in number over the period,” said Cele.
He added that the infrastructure decay was also at the core of the water crisis in Ndwedwe and many other cities across the province.
Wisani Baloyi, the spokesperson of the South African Human Rights Commission, said the residents had a right to approach the commission’s provincial office and lodge a formal complaint.
During his State of the Nation Address last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “Many people in our cities, towns and villages are experiencing more and more frequent water shortages as a result of failing water infrastructure.
"It is impossible to live without water, and the economy can't grow without water. We are therefore taking a series of decisive actions to resolve the water crisis, to enable our people to get water where they live, whether in townships or rural areas.”
To date, the Infrastructure Fund has secured R23 billion for seven large water infrastructure projects, including the uMkomazi Dam.
DAILY NEWS