Residents in Vhembe district were urged to refrain from illegal water connections because pipelines are tampered with and water no longer reaches the main reservoirs.

“We are without water for almost three years, due to illegal connections. We later discovered that the water shortages were the result of illegal connections,” said Ms Caroline Mahori, ward committee member at Mphakati village, Malamulele.

Mahori indicated that they had informed the communities within the Vhembe District Municipality that they would excavate the illegal pipelines "and we appreciate their cooperation, but we still request that further pipelines be connected to other streets so that the entire area can get water."

She was recently speaking at Mphakati, Tuesday during the excavation of illegal water connections.  The councillor for Ward 12 in the Thulamela Local Municipality, Mr Eric Macevele, emphasized that illegal connections are causing serious damage because the entire water system needs to be changed "and with the little resources that we have as a municipality it becomes a problem".

Mr Moses Shibambu, media liaison officer of the Vhembe District Municipality, indicated that an area that receives water for less that 24 hours does not qualify for the installation of house-to-house water reticulation but qualifies for the installation of RDP standard water supply. According to the RDP supply system, residents will not need to walk for more than 200 metres before they will get water. "We request residents to contact the municipality, especially in areas where there are village extensions, for proper installation of pipelines," he added.

“The community wanted to march to the district municipality to submit a memorandum because of the lack of water, but we advised them to hold a community meeting, so that we can identify the causes of the shortage of water together. During the meeting, community members indicated that the main cause was illegal connections and it was in that meeting where an agreement was reached that these connections be removed,” said Shibambu.