A serious water shortage has hit Madali Primary School in the Zezani area of Beit Bridge district, following the breakdown of the two boreholes servicing the village.

The councillor for the area, Ms Gladys Tlou, told Mirror that learners from Madali were now forced to go to school carrying bottles of water, fetched about 8km away from the school. “We are appealing to well-wishers to assist the community of Madali by rehabilitating the two boreholes, which have not functioning for several months now. We also need equipment to rehabilitate a weir across the Limpopo River to raise the level of water upstream, so that the supply of water is augmented,” she said.

She said school children from the local school were now forced to bring water from their respective homes.

Tlou also expressed concern over delays in the construction of the Madali Dam. The proposed dam is in the Beit Bridge Rural District Council layout plan, which has been in the pipeline since the early 1960s. The latest development has also affected villagers’ livestock as they now lack water for drinking. The affected places in the area include Madali Primary School, Mapako East and West and Lerapela.

“We are also appealing for assistance in repairing a bridge across the Whunga River, which was damaged by the heavy rains. When the river is in flood, school children cannot go to school. The other major challenge is that we need a clinic at Whunga because we normally face a problem in the event of a villager getting ill while the river is flooded,” Tlou said.

The community of Whunga relies on the Zezani Clinic, situated about 17km across the river. “A clinic was proposed at Whunga, but up to now, nothing has been done and villagers in the area are forced to travel long distances to Zezani to seek medical attention. We urge the authorities to address the problem as a matter of urgency,” said the councillor.

She also expressed concern over the poor road network, saying it impacted negatively on the distribution of food to the area as most transporters ferrying food pulled out of the route. “We also have a problem of food in the area. Right now, there is only one irrigation scheme situated at Dombolidenje, measuring only five hectares with 51 farmers. Villagers had cleared some land adjacent to the scheme after we had been promised by a local NGO to help fund the extension of the scheme, but up to now nothing has been done,” she said.