Tempers flared during a mayoral meeting with residents regarding Makhado’s (Louis Trichardt) continuous water problems held last Wednesday at the municipal show hall.

Representing both the Makhado Municipality and Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) was a mayoral committee responsible for technical services.

After the floor was opened for comments, residents seized the opportunity to voice their frustration regarding the continuing water crisis. Resident after resident expressed outrage about the lack of water and some even threatened to “close down” the Makhado Municipality if the water supply was not restored.

“Black and white need to meet after this meeting and chart a way forward … we must stop saying this issue is about ratepayers money. We deposit money this side and we are suffering that side! All of this town … we don’t have water. Why are we so civilized in this town that we cannot stand up and fight for our rights? We don’t have to ask them [the municipality], we have to push them. If it means pushing them [the officials] out of the municipality, we push them out!” remarked one very irate resident.

At one stage, the whole meeting, including Makhado Mayor Cllr David Mutavhatsindi, broke out in laughter when the Makhado Municipality’s technical services manager, Mr Thivho Ralulimi, admitted that residents are paying for the air that is pushed through the system after each interruption in the water supply as their water meters record this. He was reacting to residents' argument that they can’t see why they should keep on paying for water if they receive none.

Ralulimi was again the centre of residents' anger when he said that residents' putting up storage tanks at their homes was contributing to the water shortage. In reaction, one resident jump up and shouted: “That is bizarre; they only got water tanks because of your problem!”

“You are punching us very hard and we are accepting these punches because we have no excuses; we are at the core face of service delivery, but we don’t have the authority on water – we don’t have that (sic),” said Mutavhatsindi during the meeting. He added that they were, however, committed to resolving the town’s water problems.

Several explanations were offered by the two municipalities for the recent escalation of the town’s water problems.

Mr Radidzai Madimutsa, who is the acting general manager for technical services for the VDM, told residents that disruptions in the water supply were caused by old infrastructure, a lack of funding, and staff shortages, but most of all by vandalism. According to him, the municipality, had spent more than R1.4 million toward refurbishing vandalised boreholes in the municipal area since last year.

“Let me tell you, it is now like a game in terms of the vandalising of the cables which are supplying electricity to the boreholes. You will replace the cable today, but after two days the cable is gone again,” said Madimutsa.  He also told fuming residents that the VDM had come up with both a short- and a long-term strategy to ensure an uninterrupted water supply to the town, Tshikota and Eltivillas.

With regard to the short term, Madimutsa said that the municipality had received R3.5 million from the Department of Water Affairs to refurbish pipes, filters, valves and pumps on the main Albasini supply line. The actual refurbishment is expected to start in four weeks’ time. Additionally, the municipality has already appointed a team to monitor this main line weekly to check for any problems and fix them immediately. Extra boreholes are also foreseen, especially for the Tshikota area.

In the long run, the VDM also applied for extra funding to finish the Valdezia pipeline that will supply water to the second Mowkop reservoir, which has been under construction for years now and has still not been completed. This process is expected to go out on tender in two weeks’ time, said Madimutsa.

After the meeting, Mutavhatsindi undertook to report back to the community on the progress of the proposed short- and long-term water plans discussed.