Enraged citizens of the Mamvuka and Manyii communities, which fall under the Makhado Municipality, have affirmed that they will not vote in the upcoming municipal elections if their demand for water is not met.

The community members have been holding several meetings during the past few months to discuss a solution for the water crisis. According to them, since last November they have not had any water. “Each year we celebrate the festive season without water. When we voted, we were promised that all our demands would be met, but now we are back to square one,” said Mr Muvhulawa Nevhulamba, a representative of the Mamvuka community.

They said they had presented a memorandum of their grievances to the municipality, but that their councillor, Mr Mbulaheni Magada, was not coming back to them. “When we call him to attend our meetings to discuss the water issue, he is nowhere to be found. His phone is always off.  Last week when we called him to come to the water station to look at the cables, he told us that he would come with the police. He is afraid to face the community,” said the angry residents.

The communities of Mamvuka and Manyii have been dealing with the water crisis by themselves for the past three weeks. They are digging and patching the pipes that are leaking. “We are solving the water issue ourselves because the municipality is not helping us,” said Ms Rachel Phetheli, a representative of the Manyii community.

When Limpopo Mirror talked to Cllr Magada concerning the water issue, he said that the problem with the borehole that supplied water to the affected communities had already been sorted out. He also said that the problem was the cable to measure the water level. “I called the electricians to fix the cable, but their phones were not reachable,” he added.