The Kutama-Sinthumule Correctional Centre (KSCC) donated a water-level indicator to the Mowkop water reservoir in Makhado last Wednesday.

Mowkop currently provides water to a large part of town. The level indicator will indicate the available capacity of water in the reservoir, so that the municipality will be able to manage the rationing of water to the entire community without many difficulties.

The executive mayor of Vhembe District Municipality, Cllr Tshitereke Matibe, welcomed the donation. He said that the Vhembe district had the highest population in the province, and the more the area was growing, the scarcer water became.

“Let's put our hands together to make sure that we serve and support our communities when it comes to issues of service delivery,” Matibe said. “The municipality can't do it alone. We need communal efforts to solve the water problem in our district. We appreciate the South African Custodial Management's efforts towards solving the water problem.”

The prison director, Mr Lazarus Ncongwane, said that the prison was a large community in itself and housed 3 024 sentenced offenders and had about 550 staff members. “Offenders are sentenced to imprisonment to protect the community,” Ncongwane said. “The water problem is a nightmare to me as prison director, because offenders cannot go around town looking for water."

The level indicator had cost R11 000. Meanwhile, the KSCC had spent at least R30 000, in 2011 alone, in assisting the municipality to restore the water supply to the reservoir or to the prison. “We take an approach of being part of the solution rather than a problem,” Ncongwane added.