Vandalism of infrastructure adds to water woes

MALALANE – Vandalism of water infrastructure has been identified by the Nkomazi Local Municipality (NLM) as another reason for water shortages.

Over the past weeks residents of various areas in the subregion have been taking to the streets in protest over water delivery.

Last Monday residents of Mangweni barricaded roads with stones, demonstrating their displeasure with the municipality over its failure to provide them with running water.

“We can’t continue like this, every time we are told we shall get water soon. But that always tends to turn into years of waiting for promises to be kept. We are demanding action and want running water like most areas,” explained a protester, Mr Eric Ngomane.

“We are appealing to people to please to be patient with us as the construction is already underway and will be completed soon,” was the response of the NLM spokesman, Mr Cyril Ripinga.

According to Ripinga there are currently two water projects in progress in the community, and they are expected to be completed soon.

“The one is a municipal project and the other a provincial government project, however, both are expected to be finished soon.

“We can assure the people of Mangweni that their current water problems will very soon be a thing of the past, and we as the local government are hard at work at ensuring that,” Ripinga added.

He continued, “We are hard hit by the drought in the whole of Nkomazi.

“Rivers are running dry due to the drought and the areas of Malalane, Hectorspruit, and Marloth Park are most affected. The Magogeni Dam which feeds Boschfontein is also dry.

“We also note with regret that some criminals have vandalised the pipe that feeds Boschfontein.

“In Mangweni we realised that there had also been some criminal activity in terms of vandalism to the water infrastructure, resulting in the recent water shortage.”

Ripinga added that this past weekend’s rain bore very little result in terms of improving the water levels.