‘After 23 years, we still don’t have clean water’

STEELPOORT – Residents in Kutullo, Steelpoort Park’s Matepe Section still do not believe they are in a democratic country as they cited service delivery is a major concern.

Speaking to Steelburger/Lydenburg News the locals said they were still accessing drinking water from dirty rivers and muddy wells. They claimed that at times the wells ran dry and forced them to wait for the arrival of small quantities of water to carry home.

What makes this worse, is the fact that they share the water with animals. “It’s hard to believe that after 23 years of democracy, we still don’t have clean water. It hurts us to see politicians boast about democracy in the media but neglect the people,” said one of the local residents.

According to locals, most people have previously been admitted to hospital after contracting diseases like cholera and dysentery.

Residents complained that they had hoped that the De Hoop Dam would provide a solution to their problems, but to no avail.

“When the dam was completed we thought our problems were going to be solved, but we were wrong,” they said.

Water is not the only problem for the the Kutullo residents. “Our area is not electrified, even with the mines that have a community social investment plan in place to improve the lives of people in the villages, we still live without lights.”

At the time of going to press, attempts by Steelburger/Lydenburg News to contact Sekhukhune District Municipality’s spokesman, Willy Mosoma for comment, were unsuccessful.