“WHEN we see a dark cloud, we rejoice and hope it will rain,” say residents of Risinga village near Giyani. Villagers face the daily challenge of surviving a dire shortage of water, even though they live close to the dam that supplies Giyani with water. The people of Risinga village drink from a well they had to dig themselves in order to avoid having to travel long distances to fetch water.
“Sometimes we have to wait the whole day when the well is dry, in the hope that the water will rise enough for us to get some,” a resident, Doris Maswanganyi, said.
When the well is dry, residents have to use wheelbarrows and go to a nearby village to fetch water. This was a task, they said, that was killing them.
“Our women are tired, and some are too weak to push wheelbarrows. Some women even get sick because of the strain, and have to be admitted to hospital,” resident, James Chauke, said during a community meeting held on Sunday to discuss the water problem in the area.
“When we see a dark cloud, we rejoice and hope it will rain so we can have enough water in the well and avoid having to go so far to get water,” he said.
Residents wrote to the Greater Giyani Municipality requesting water tanks to be placed in the village and filled on a weekly basis.
Given Man’ombe, one of the leaders of the community, said should the municipality fail to do this, residents were determined to sabotage the main pipeline that took water from the nearby dam to Giyani.
“We cannot die of thirst while we live next to a dam, it’s not logical,” he said.
Village headman, Patrick Chavalala, said they had tried to engage the municipality, and asked them for water tanks.
“But we only received a delivery once, and then it stopped,” he said.
“In this village those who have fresh water are those who have the money to buy it, but the rest of us have to drink from the well,” he added.
Asked whether the municipality had received the community’s request for help, municipal spokesperson, Steve Mavunda confirmed receipt.
“However, as a local municipality we have no authority with regard to water distribution, that power lies with the Mopani District Municipality. Our part in helping that community will be in the form of communicating the request to the district municipality, as well as facilitating it,” he said.
