RESIDENTS of Nthabalala Village in Limpopo have been struggling with water shortages for more than 15 years.
The community is still questioning this year's State of the Nation Address (Sona) by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
This is because pupils and thousands of residents in the village continue to drink dirty water from the nearby river.
Despite Ramaphosa's claims during the Sona speech that access to basic water was a reality before 1994, the severe water shortage persists, forcing more than 200 pupils from Vari Primary School and residents to endure unclean water for daily use.
Despite drilling six boreholes at the school, not a single drop of water has come out of the taps and the community has several dysfunctional boreholes.
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Parents and the school governing body (SGB) members are now forced to travel over four kilometres on two trips to fetch water with buckets from a river twice a week.
It's reported that the school uses water from the river for cooking and drinking.
Daily Sun recently visited the village and found a group of parents fetching water at the river. Gogo Tshinakaho Mufamadi (62), who has two grandchildren, was also at the river.
She said carrying a bucket to fetch water is the only option for ensuring her grandchildren receive an education and have a brighter future.
“It’s hard because we also don’t have water for the whole village as the government failed to provide a solution for years. We boil the water and pour Jik before drinking it. Workers at school also do the same for learners after fetch water for them in this river,” she said.
Ramaphosa claimed that the pipeline from Nandoni Dam to Nsami Dam is among the infrastructure projects that are in progress or completed.
Andrew Masipa, chairman of SGB, said that learners drinking unclean water sometimes affects their learning as some complain of stomach pains and have to be taken to a local clinic.
The chief of the village, Hosi John Makamu, said that they tried for years together with the school leadership to send letters to the Vhembe District Municipality, but with no luck.
"Both the school, village, and local clinic do not have water, and the government doesn't care about us. All they do is make promises during election time, but there's no action,” he said.
Limpopo education spokesman Mike Maringa denied these allegations and claimed that the school gets water from the community for two hours weekly.
“They also had an agreement that the government will bring water tankers if there’s no water. They're exaggerating, and they have never been without water," he said.
Municipal spokesman Matozi Ralushai claimed that their boreholes became dysfunctional due to vandalism and theft of electrical cables.
When asked what caused the latest borehole project not to be completed, he claimed that all boreholes were fully equipped and electrified.
