Water taps run dry at Sinthumule/Kutama

Fed-up residents, who had last seen drops of water from taps last month, complained about spending two or three days without washing and wearing dirty clothes without being able to change them. Some of the residents said to Mirror that they cannot afford to buy water from people who have boreholes, because these people charge them R5 for 20 litres. This makes the price of water more expensive than in other drought-stricken places.

An angry Mr Solomon Ramaguvha of Magau said community representatives in the Sinthumule/Kutama development forum met with Mayor Glory Mashaba at the Kutama Territorial Council on the 28th of last month and “we raised the problem of the shortage of water. She promised us that she was going to send water tanks to Magau, but since that day we are still waiting for her to deliver water to us as she promised.”

The Makhado Municipality spokesperson, Mr Peter Muleya, said the municipality is aware that there are water problems in the Sinthumule/Kutama area. “The problem is that the water pump was broken and we had to extend the borehole, as the population is increasing daily. The technician was the one who prevented us from giving our people clean water. We are going to speed up the process and give our people water,” said Muleya.

The chairperson of Sanco in Vhembe, Vha-Musanda Vho-Ntanganedzeni Kutama, said that he was surprised that all the dams are full to capacity and rain also fell during the past months. He appealed to the municipality to deliver water to the community, who is suffering.

News - Date: 23 June 2006

Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

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