The Makhado Annual Show weekend was a dry one for many residents of Louis Trichardt.

Parts of Louis Trichardt, Eltivillas and Tshikota had no running water. Residents in Newtown, east of the N1, who have grown accustomed to having a water supply for only some hours of the day, had none at all. A resident of Louis Trichardt west of the N1 said that even though they have a water tank, just a slow trickle of water came through. A resident visiting Tshikota said that there had been no water since Thursday.

The Makhado Municipality, by way of its spokesperson, Mr Louis Bobodi, said on Monday that a pipe had burst at a pump station in town on Saturday.

“On Sunday, another pipe burst on the line from the Albasini and apparently the whole town was affected. I am not aware of what happened in Tshikota,” Bobodi said. The pipes were fixed on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Existing water pipes that are defective through lack of maintenance and upgrading are one thing, but even more saddening is the fact that the brand new pipes that were installed to bring water from the Nandoni Dam to thirsty communities were sub-standard. They could never be used.

The Democratic Alliance´s provincial leader, MP Desiree van der Walt, spoke out on July 21 against the poor workmanship of the pipes from the Nandoni Dam. “The contractor who was awarded the tender to draw the water from the Nandoni Dam had connected pipes which were below standard,” the DA said.The result is that although the Nandoni Dam was erected at a cost of R440 million six years ago, it still does not supply water to the 2 million plus people living in the Vhembe and Mopani District Municipalities.

The DA welcomes the intervention by Water Affairs Minister Ms Buyelwa Sonjica, but they say it comes a little too late. Van der Walt will write to Minister Sonjica to ask her “the name of this construction companyr, who its directors are and whether they had fulfilled all the legal requirements before this tender was awarded to them.” The DA want to know whether there were other bidders who could have done a proper job and at reduced costs, as required by the Public Finance Management Act.

“If these questions are answered in the affirmative, then there will be a prima facie case for the violation of the Public Finance Management Act,” states Van der Walt. Van der Walt indicated that it could even be a case of tender corruption.

”A closer scrutiny of this tender might reveal that it is one the many tenders which were awarded to close friends and comrades without having regard for whether they would be able to deliver quality services to the communities,” Van der Walt said.

The main purpose of the construction of the Nandoni Dam was to supply water for domestic use. In 2002, the constructing engineers said that the areas and communities that would benefit were the urban areas of Louis Trichardt and Thohoyandou and the rural communities in the northern part of the Northern Province, from Malamulele and Lambani in the east to Sinthumule/Kutama in the west. They also said in 2002 that the component of the work that included pipelines from the Nandoni Dam to Thohoyandou and the Albasini Dam and a bridge over the Luvuvhu River between Tshiulungoma and Dididi had already begun.

Back in Louis Trichardt, the fact that the Makhado Municpality, by way of its technical director, Mr Thivho Ralulimi, refused to give information in print regarding the implementation plan for the upgrading and maintenance of the water supply and water treatment, together with time frames and a budget, as well as progress on tender processes in each regard, has become an embarrassment.