VILLAGERS in Ga-Sekgopo Village outside Modjadjiskloof, Limpopo have nothing to celebrate this Human Rights Month and won’t enjoy the Easter holidays either.
This is because they have been without water since November 2023. They said they are dying of thirst and will not enjoy the Easter long weekend.
Residents said what surprises them is that they have multiple boreholes and water tanks in their village, but they still don’t get water.
Villager Sipho Moagi (41) said they are being deprived of their basic right to clean, running water.
“We go thirsty every day and don’t know who to cry to because it seems no one is willing to help us,” he said.
Sipho said a water tanker comes once every two weeks, but the water is not enough for everyone.
“Every day, villagers line up their water containers in the streets with the hope that water tankers will come, but nothing happens, and they are forced to return to their homes empty-handed,” he said.
Other villagers said at times they fight over who to get water first from the tanker.
“They only send one water tanker and it's not enough for all of us. We are many here. No one wants to return home without water, so we are forced to fight,” said another villager (33).
The gatvol villagers said they are not kept up to date on what the problem is. They said every time they enquire, they're told that their borehole is broken, but nothing seems to be done to fix the situation.
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Another villager, Johannes Ngobeni (38), said they are tired of buying water from those who have boreholes in their homes because it's too expensive for them.
“Each 25 litre bottle costs R5 and many of us are unemployed and can’t afford to buy water every day. It’s even worse for those who rely on social grants,” he said.
Mopani District municipal spokesman Odas Ngobeni said they have 14 boreholes in Sekgopo and six are currently operational, two have dried up, while the rest have different defects which the technical team is attending to.
“Through the coordination of the local municipality, we should be able to dispatch water tankers to service the communities that may be affected adversely by the dysfunctional boreholes,” he said.
