Father killed in scuffle for water as family vows to vote for ‘the ANC of Mandela’

A distraught Limpopo family whose father was killed during a scuffle for water has vowed to still vote for the ANC in the 4 November local government elections.

The Mokgotho family, based about 76.6km west of Tzaneen near Hoedspruit, live in a community where the ANC-led government has repeatedly failed to honour promises of clean running water.

Speaking to The Citizen, Spekere Mokgotho detailed his heartbreak at losing his father, Frans, in 2000 but said his family would vote for the “ANC of Mandela”.

The trip is part of The Citizen‘s travels across the country to explore the lives, struggles, successes and frustrations of everyday South Africans ahead of this year’s local government elections.

“My father was killed by two known men on his farm at Turkey 1 Village in the Sekororo area. He was a vegetable farmer on the mountain. He used water from the mountain to water his vegetables and fruit in the garden.

“At the time, community members were in a protracted scuffle over the same water, with some accusing my father of redirecting water to his farm, while the community waited.

One day he did not come back home. We went to the farm to search for him, but in vain. His body was found 14 days later in a state of decomposition, buried in a shallow grave.

“After intensive investigations, two suspects were arrested, and it was found that he was killed for water.

However, the suspects got off scot-free. They all got R10 000 bail each and never got sent to prison. They are today loitering the streets of Sekororo as if nothing ever happened,” Spekere alleged.

Despite the killing, Mokgotho’s sons say their father believed in the ANC of Mandela to lead the country.

“The ANC may have flopped here and there, but we know this party will self-correct. It is a party of our ancestors, and we believe under its leadership, service delivery will soon be the order of the day. So, come November 4, I am going to cast my vote for the ANC,” said Spekere.

The Mandela effect

Political activist Kagiso Sekokotla told The Citizen that older South African voters and pensioners still maintain a uniquely deep connection to the ANC out of reverence for Nelson Mandela.

But he said the absolute dominance the ANC once held over older generations was shifting, leaving only a few older people, especially in rural areas, still believing that Mandela is the reason government pays social grants and that failing to vote for the ANC could stop support.

“Recent data, including results from the watershed 2024 national elections and polling ahead of the 2026 local government elections, shows that while the ‘Mandela factor’ remains a powerful memory, it is no longer enough to guarantee an automatic vote for others, especially older people living in suburbs, towns and cities,” he said.

Chronic water shortages

Mokgotho’s case highlights the chronic shortage of water in many parts of Greater Maruleng Local Municipality and elsewhere in the province.

Mopani District Municipality Executive Mayor Dagma Mamanyoha, together with Maruleng Local Municipality Mayor Tsheko Musolwa, recently crisscrossed the sub-region to close bottlenecks hampering water provision ahead of the local government elections.

Both mayors promised water challenges would soon be a thing of the past.

All talk, no clean water

During a site visit to Sekororo last week, the third-largest political party in Limpopo, the DA, reported shocking revelations about water struggles, with some communities still drinking from the same fountain as animals.

“Maruleng and Mopani municipalities must provide safe drinking water and repair the broken water infrastructure in Turkey and surrounding villages because water access must never depend on political affiliation,” said DA Member of the Provincial Legislature (MPL) Marie Helm on Thursday.

“Valves and boreholes, which should be serving the community, have remained broken and inoperative for more than a decade and must be repaired. Both municipalities must also respond substantively to a petition recently handed over and explain why previous commitments were not honoured.

“The unresponsiveness and indifference to the plight of the community, despite the responsibilities of both municipalities to ensure access to water, are not acceptable,” Helm said.

Helm said residents of Turkey in Ward 7 of Maruleng have pleaded for reliable water for more than a decade.

Despite repeated appeals by the community and the DA, large parts of the settlement, including Rakgolokwana High School, remain high and dry, and no municipal water tankers have been dispatched to service the area.

“Residents report having to pay private suppliers to deliver water or collect water from a well also used by animals,” she said.

Water but no delivery

DA ward councillor candidate Reckson Mogofe told The Citizen on Thursday that the mountain reservoir above the settlement has water, but the problem lies with the supply pipe and valves.

“The Maruleng municipality promised to supply a replacement pipe, but it has never arrived. The local borehole is also unusable because its pump is not working,” he said.

Mogofe said the water problem is dire.

“We, as a community, are saying enough is enough. One death is one too many. Both Maruleng and Mopani District must come and provide water. Otherwise you will kiss our votes goodbye.”

More promises

Former executive mayor Pule Shayi recently addressed the water and sanitation crisis, infrastructure plans and heavy financial pressures during the Mopani District Municipality’s State of the District Address.

Major funding and projects were outlined, including allocations for the Sekgosese Water Scheme, Sekgopo Water Reticulation Project, Rotterdam Manyunyu Project, and the Sekororo Tours Water Scheme benefiting communities in the Mopani region.

Shayi, now elevated to provincial politics to lead Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, said the district faced massive unpaid utility liabilities, including R302 million owed to Lepelle Northern Water and R384 million to the Department of Water and Sanitation.