Water tank delivered to community of girl saved from crocodile
FOLLOWING the Sunday Tribune’s story on 12-yearold Thandazile Ngema who was grabbed by a crocodile when she went to fetch water from the river, the community now has a water tank.
Her mom, Thandekile Ngema said she was gratefulwe had highlighted her daughter’s story. Ngema, from the Masangweni rural area near Melmoth, said she was excited she no longer had to fetch water from the river.
“After the media intervened, we were visited by officials from the municipality who brought us groceries and assessed our situation. The following day, a water tank was delivered. I am hoping it will always be filled with water, right now all I want is for my daughter to recover fully and play with other kids like she used to,” said Ngema.
The tank was delivered on Tuesday.
Thulani Zincume, ward 4 councillor, said he had asked the municipality to provide his area with the tank a long time ago, but had been told one would not be provided for only a few houses. “They said people should rely on the tank that is quite far away from them. There are many parts of my area that desperately need tanks, and even those that have, you find that they are not filled regularly because of the drought. That forces people to fetch water from the river,” said Zincume.
Municipal manager Mandla Nkosi said the delay was due to the unavailability of tanks from uThungulu’s stock.
“We had to purchase one and our procurement processes had to be followed. Water will be delivered once a week. The district is stricken by drought, and we are no longer in a position to transport water daily because of the scarce resources. The dams are dry and we struggle to source water from boreholes and other sources.”
He said he believed that the tank provided would reduce the danger the family had by going to the nearest river.
“The safety of our residents is a huge concern to us, however the presence of crocodiles in the river is not something we can control as this is their natural habitat. It must be noted there is a nearby JoJo tankwhich was available before the incident. Although it was not close, they were still able to walk to fetch water,” said Nkosi. WEATHER forecasters say good rain is on the way on Tuesday.
SA Weather Service forecaster Wayne Venter said an upper air trough of cool air would move across the country, bringing with it a strong possibility of showers and thundershowers across most parts of KwaZulu-Natal.
He said this, coupled with a surface high pressure cell sweeping in from the ocean, would increase the chances of good rain in KZN and many parts of the country.
He dismissed forecasts by amateur storm watchers that a major storm was coming our way midweek. “There is just a good chance of showers and thundershowers over KZN, no tropical storm,” he said.