Water, or the lack thereof, was the most pressing concern at a meeting between the Makhado Municipality’s top management and the local ratepayers association. The meeting was called by Mayor David Mutavhatsindi.

“Water is our number one problem. Some people have now been without water for 30 days,” the chairperson of the Soutpansberg Ratepayers Association (SRPA), Ms Inga Gilfillan, said at the meeting on 19 June.

At the meeting, Gilfillan handed a petition to Mutavhatsindi, signed by residents struggling with water. “We obtained 280 signatures in just one day,” said SRPA manager Mr Phillip Olivier.

In reply to the water crisis, the municipality’s director of technical services, Mr Thivho Ralulimi, said that government had been caught off guard with regard to the water supply. Fortunately, the consultants for the bulk supply line from Nandoni to Valdezia has been appointed and R29 million has been set aside for the project.

It was explained that in Makhado and Tshikota, a two-day disruption in the water supply can take the municipality seven days to recover from. The cleaning of the reservoirs was hampered by power failures. Ralulimi said that pump stations 1 and 2 could not function, due to a default problem in a Y-junction that would, at that stage, be replaced on 21 June. Once replaced, it would have taken two days for Makhado new town and the CBD to have water and three days for Tshikota.

Municipal spokesperson Mr Louis Bobodi confirmed this week that the default junction had been replaced and added “but as far as water is concerned, we cannot give a guarantee because the system from the Albasini Dam is ageing and a breakdown might happen at any given time”.

“If the water supply is still interrupted 10 working days after the promised date of the repair of the Y-junction, we shall take the matter up again,” Olivier said.

The town’s streets also came up for discussion. Gilfillan expressed concern that the curbing of the newly tarred streets had not been done, a situation that could cause rain to erode the new road surface. She commended the municipality on the new sewerage works and urged the municipality to make sure that it is efficiently managed by qualified and experienced people.

Public vending machines where electricity can be bought have been promised since 2008. On this issue, the municipality assured the ratepayers that they are busy installing in-house vending machines, which should be completed by August this year. Following electricity vending points at the municipality, vending points will be expanded to include businesses and ATMs.

Another electricity issue was the Tshitandani Childcare project in Tshikota, where attempts to get electricity have been in vain since 2010. Mutavhatsindi referred the matter to the relevant department to be investigated. 

Gilfillan said that the municipality’s refusal to approve building plans because of ratepayers' withholding rates and taxes was illegal. The municipality replied that they would refer the issue to their legal department.

Mutavhatsindi made it clear that he wanted the town to grow and that all should work together to resolve challenges and bring about successful changes. “This is our municipality… we all stay here... let us make a point of avoiding the term ‘them’, but rather say ‘us’ as this is ‘our’ home,” Mutavhatsindi said.

“The meeting was conducted in a good spirit. We look forward to working with the new mayor. Yes, the mayor did ask, tongue in cheek, why we did not put the issue of paying back the money that we are withholding, on the agenda,” said Olivier on Tuesday.