JERUSALEM – The past four weeks have been horrendous for community members as they had to get by without water.

According to villagers who depend on a borehole for their supply, the pump was broken.

The last time they were able to draw water from this source was during the first week in August. Now they depend on a well that isn’t large enough for all of them.

“It’s a matter of first come, first served. People have to be at the well around 03:00 if they want to get some water, otherwise if you arrive late, there will be nothing left since it’s very small,” said
Ms Nomzamo Maluka, a resident.

Another frustrated community member, Mr Sello Mashego, said they had been forgotten by the government.

“We are approaching local government elections and the ruling party is improving service delivery in certain areas as a way of convincing them to continue voting for them.

But with us, nothing is done and it’s obvious that we are forgotten,” Mashego expressed.

Some villagers claimed they didn’t have enough water to wash their clothes since the pump was broken.

“We have to reserve the little water we get for drinking and doing laundry has turned into a luxury,” said Mr Elliot Zama.

Several people had small vegetable gardens that assisted them so they didn’t have to buy basic things, but had no water to maintain them.

“We pray that the government can remember us and do something about our water problems. It’s been years of suffering and it seems as if there is no hope,” added Zama.

Mpumalanga News’ attempts to get response from Mr Joseph Ngala, spokesperson for Mbombela Local Municipality proved to be fruitless.