The Sand River and Shabalala communities are facing another festive season without any reliable water source.

Despite being located next to the fully operational Nyongane and Hoxane Water Treatment Scheme, residents in both communities receive no benefit.

The water supply to households in both villages was cut off without any prior communication. Compounding the crisis, water tankers previously deployed in the area are not delivering water anymore.

This forces residents who can afford it to buy water, while those who cannot are compelled to share the polluted river water with animals.

The affected residents have given up asking the City of Mbombela (CoM) to supply them with clean water. They are frustrated after years of being ignored, with their pleas continually falling on deaf ears and no action ever taken.

They also claim they have tried to resolve the matter through civil action and protests, but nothing has changed.

“We have accepted that our councillors and the municipality, despite claiming to care, have abandoned us. Even our protests did not work and our meetings with the CoM were unfruitful. We have two fully operational water schemes that serve villages far away, yet those of us living right next to them are forgotten,” they said.

ALSO READ: No answers from Municipality about Sand River’s water crisis

They are now calling on the national and provincial governments to intervene, as the local municipality has completely failed them.”We know our chances of getting assistance are slim, as even the more senior governments would only pay attention during elections and then disappear as always after they secured our votes with empty promises,” they lamented.

For the past three years, the Shabalala community has survived on water brought in by tankers after their supply ran dry.

In Sand River the situation is even more dire. Before the local government election eight years ago, pipes and taps were installed, but after just two months of running water, they dried up.
Between August and mid-October last year, residents briefly experienced what most people take for granted, a basic human right – clean, running water. Today, that has once again become a luxury for these communities.

ALSO READ: Sand River waterless for seven years

Previously, the CoM’s spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, said the water problems are complex. According to him, the areas have a mix of formal and informal connections, while areas without reticulation pipes are relying on water tankers. “We have many illegal connections we are addressing at the moment,” he said.

As always, he just reiterated the same, encouraging communities to contact their councillors for updates on schedules for water tankers. In the meantime, many families are facing another harsh and dry Christmas.