Over 20 years of no water for Daniel Rababalela residents

Residents of Daniel Rababalela village blockaded the road to their village on Monday, April 22 after failed attempts to engage with the ward councillor of the Greater Giyani Municipality (GGM) to assist them with their water problems. “We have not had water for more than 20 years, and with every IDP budget presentation, we are told that we will get water soon,” said Kagiso Ngobeni, one of the residents.

“Even today we are still buying water from residents with boreholes. We are struggling and it seems no one cares about us. It is promise after promise with nothing that shows that the promise will be fulfilled,” he said. He said that protesting and blockading the road was the only way the municipality would listen to them. “We even asked our councillor to speak on our behalf, but I do not know if she did talk to them or not.”

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“All I can say is that we are not taken seriously. Nothing good comes to us, we get the last bite of everything,” he said. He said the village does not have a road sign indicating their location. “We are blockading the road to make sure that our children do not suffer like we do now. For a person to bathe in our village, you must have money, what happens to those who depend on a one-child social grant, what do you choose to buy and not buy?”

“Can you imagine going to your neighbour to ask for money to buy water?” asked Ngobeni. Last week during a visit to the Giyani Bulk Water Project, the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, and Mopani District Municipality Mayor Pule Shayi were asked if they have solutions for villages like Daniel Rababalela. The minister said that they are still in phase 1 of the water reticulation project which is going to provide water to 24 of the 55 villages with water.

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Of the 24 villages in phase 1, 12 villages now have running water. “Because of how the budget is allocated, we cannot do everything at once. Daniel Rababalela is in phase 2, the last 31 villages from the 55 that are supposed to benefit from this bulk water,” he said. Shayi said that they are aware of the situation at Daniel Rababalela. “We will provide water tankers for the time being until their time comes,” he said. Meanwhile, the villagers have stopped protesting depending on feedback from the district municipality