Residents of various villages in the Vhembe District Municipality in Limpopo fear they are at risk of contracting cholera and other waterborne infections. At Ha-Mutsha and several neighboring villages, residents have not had clean running water for over a month.
This follows a pipe burst at the Tshakhuma Water Scheme at the beginning of May. Some of the residents say they are suffering as they are forced to purchase water from those who have drilled boreholes daily.
“What worries me is that we actually paid R970, but they can’t even supply the water, and I know that next year, because it is an election year, our taps will have water every day. We reuse dirty water so often; we are even starving because we can’t water our vegetables. I even fear that we will get sick,” expresses a concerned resident.
Community leader Jeffrey Masutha says the Vhembe District Municipality has not responded to requests to fix the pipeline. SABC News’s attempt to get a comment from the district municipality, which is the water authority, also did not yield results.
Masutha has expressed his frustration, saying, “We approached the Vhembe District Municipality as the water authority of this area. The municipality is not answering us as community members, and we have a challenge with the district municipality. They don’t come to assist us. We are still crying for the issue of water.”
VIDEO: Ha-Mutsha residents have not had clean running water for over a month
