Villagers protest at dry taps

Residents say they will die of thirst if they keep quiet

Villagers in North West say the government wants someone to die first before providing them with water.

The Rabokala village residents in Brits barricaded roads with burning tyres and objects on Friday, demanding the Madibeng local municipality provide them with clean water.

They said it was not fair for them to struggle when a neighbouring village, Mothutlung, received water daily.

One of the residents, Aubrey Masilo, said village residents were severely affected by the water scarcity last week when the heat wave arrived.

“We struggled. We were thirsty and did not have money to buy water. It’s January. We are broke,” he said.

Masilo said the problem was not that the municipality does not have the means to give them water, but that it was prioritising other areas.

“Here, if you keep quiet you will die of thirst. We have been quiet for a long time.”

Another resident, William Modiba, said he buys a 20 litre bucket of water for R2.50 from those who have boreholes.

“Borehole owners are now exploiting us. They have raised their prices and we are trapped because we can’t say no,” said Modiba.

He said they submitted a memorandum of demands to the municipality in December 2016, but it has still not responded.

“They are now taking us for granted. Four people died in Mothutlung and suddenly they received water every day. Maybe people in Rabokala also have to die so that we can get water,” he said.

The village has a population of 3 000 people and has 12 boreholes that do not work.

The village uses the same reservoir as Mothutlung.

Resident Lenah Mogapi said the municipality must prioritise the village.

“It’s extremely hot and we cannot live without water. We know that the municipality is struggling with water bulk supply, but let them prioritise before we die because of thirst.”

During the protest, the municipality provided temporary water and promised it would come up with a permanent solution.

Madibeng local municipality spokesman Tumelo Tshabalala said the residents had suffered because of water maintenance.

“The maintenance work resulted in low water pressure in some areas, while there was completely no supply in areas like Rabokala,” he said.

Tshabalala said they were working on the problem.

“We are working around the clock as the municipality to ensure that the service is fully restored,” he said.