Wilge Village suffers huge livestock loss

The first thing that hits you as you leave the tar road out of Wilge into the grasslands of the village, is the overwhelming stench of sewerage.

According to community members, the Wilge pump station has been out of commission on and off for months on end.

 In an investigation by WITBANK NEWS on Thursday, April 25, it was discovered that the faulty pump station has been allowing black sludge like smelly, disease-infested raw sewage to seep into the small local dam in the village.

The dam is the primary source of water for the villager’s livestock, and this is where the catastrophe gained traction.

According to the community, livestock has been drinking from this sewage and died. As far as the eye could see, rotting carcasses of cattle were lying in the long grass.

The pain of loss, seen in the eyes of community member William Mokwana, goes deeper than just the financial loss of the actual cattle, but the deep sadness and helplessness faced by the whole community as they watched their precious livestock get sick and die in the fields where they graze.

“Each head of cattle costs about R10 000. The municipality can fix the pump station, but what about the actual dam that is now contaminated?

We cannot afford to import drinking water for our cattle, and how do we stop our thirsty cows from running to the water and drinking it?

Fixing the pump station is not going to resolve our problem,” William commented.

Later on, an eMalahleni municipal vehicle stopped at the pump station, and in a brief interview with a municipal worker, who would like to remain anonymous, she told WITBANK NEWS that, 

The pump station is constantly being vandalised by the community.

We will fix it today, and in two weeks it will be vandalised again. People break in to steal the components that contain copper.

It is very disheartening for us to have to come and fix the same problem repeatedly.”

When William was asked about the vandalism, he emphatically stated that

“nobody from the village would be the people causing the damage, as that would mean we are putting ourselves into this situation.

If this is true because of vandalism, then this is people from outside our community coming in and doing it. We would not sabotage our community like this.”

According to William, the dam used to be a recreational area for the village.

Over weekends, children would swim in the dam and villagers would gather there to braai and socialise with each other.

They don’t do this anymore.

The dam water itself is allegedly contaminated with sewerage, as the tell-tale green water lettuce is starting to take over the surface of the dam.

A rough estimate of the financial loss to the village stands at approximately a million rand, that is about 100 cattle that have perished, but the spiritual loss, as well as the emotional damage to not being able to help your sick and dying cattle, is a much higher price to pay for this community.

To the amaZulu community of South Africa, they have an expression ‘umnumzane ubonakala ngesibaya sakhe’ – a man’s social status is determined by the size of his kraal.

Their cattle have deep roots and connections to their wealth, status, and their connection to their ancestry. 

 The municipality was contacted for comment, but no response had been received at the time of going to print.

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