'No water, no vote'
2008-05-21 11:15
Siphiwe Nyathi
Ngodwana - Residents of Mgababa village have never had access to clean drinking water.
Instead, they continue to collect water directly from the Elands River near Ngodwana in Mpumalanga, where two hippos have been known to attack residents.
"We want services now. We don't deserve to be treated like this by the government that we voted for," says one resident, Loster Mgwenya.
She worries about the cleanliness of the water, because some villagers swim and bath in the river, while animals also drink from it.
Not even an outbreak of cholera in 200l, which claimed two lives and put 10 people in hospital, failed to convince the Mbombela local municipality in Nelspruit to speed up service delivery.
"We have no choice but to use the river, because water is a basic need of life. We sometimes use bleach to purify it, but old people have difficulty measuring the amount needed," says Mgwenya while refilling her 25-litre bucket.
No response
Ward committee member for Ward 12, Alfred Mgwenya (no relation to Loster Mgwenya), said the committee had reported the matter to the municipality several times, but without any success.
He said the municipality delivered four water tanks in July last year, but never filled them with water. One of the tanks was stolen on Saturday night.
He said there are no water taps in the village either.
"Even if we had two taps, we'd be happy. We are really thirsty for purified water, just like any citizen of South Africa," says Mgwenya.
He said residents were threatening to boycott the general elections next year unless they got water.
"No service, no vote. They must not even dare come to us because they are using our votes to improve their own lives while we are suffering in the villages," said Mgwenya.
Spokesperson for the Mbombela municipality, Joseph Ngala, said the matter would be discussed with ward councillor for the area, Christina Mafutha.
"We were not aware of the situation and something will be done as soon as possible," he promised.
- African Eye