People sharing drinking water with animals – Ndzingeni Council
ISSUES: “We have been sharing water with donkeys in wells (esicotjeni) for so many years and residents are not happy about this.”
NDZINGENI – Imagine having to share drinking water with donkeys and cattle because you have no other option. For over 30 years, this is the situation Ndzingeni Inkhundla residents have found themselves in, due to the lack of proper water supply in the area.
Notably is that during this period, the Ndzingeni Constituency elected people into Parliament with the hope that this would be addressed, but without much success. Ndzingeni’s Indvuna Yenkhundla Fikelephi Mvila said the water challenge has been a thorn on the side of the residents for a long time. She said sharing drinking water with animals like donkeys has become a sad, unhealthy norm in the area. “The lack of water supply has been bothering us for a while now. Addressing this challenge is one of our main priorities in our term in Parliament. It is a serious inconvenience to share drinking water with animals. This is what we experience everyday as residents and we are, therefore, exposed to health risks,” Mvila said. She said they are currently drawing up a plan of engaging the relevant stakeholders including Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (EWADE), to kick-start the water project that will benefit all the chiefdoms. Ndzingeni Constituency has seven chiefdoms (imiphakatsi) and these include Ludlawini, Kwaliweni, Mgungundlovu, Meleti, Ntsanjeni, Nkamazi and Mvuma. “We have been sharing water with donkeys at wells (esicojeni) for so many years and residents are not happy about this. This is actually one of the issues they mandated us to address during our term in Parliament. It is also a great concern to us and we are currently trying to come up with a proper plan of finding a solution,” she said. Mvila said the residents are worried by the fact that other neighbouring constituencies like Maphalaleni are not encountering such challenges. “People are struggling to understand why we have no proper water supply at Ndzingeni because in other areas, this has been addressed. The lack of water supply is a thorny subject in our area and we will work hard to ensure that we come up with solutions,” Mvila said. Besides the water, issue Mvila also pointed out that good water supply would encourage residents to take part in farming. “Farming, for some residents, is a challenge now because they have to travel long distances just to access water. This makes the proposed water project a great necessity and we are hopeful that government will assist us in this regard. Ndzingeni is a big community with lot of people,” Mvila stated. The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ndzingeni Constituency is Gcina Magagula, who replaced, the long-serving legislator, Lutfo Dlamini. The Ndzingeni Council consists of about 10 members and they usually hold their meetings every Tuesdays.