Water on wheels to bring relief
FOR THIRSTY Qwaqwa residents in the Free State, their next drink of water is more likely to come on wheels than from the tap as reservoir water levels run low.
As the country continues to experience the worst drought in more than a decade, low water levels in the Fika-Patso Dam forced local water authority Maluti-a-Phofung Water to stop pumping water from the dam late last month.
Maluti-a-Phofung Water communications manager, Mpho Mabena, said the dam supplied about 85 percent of Qwaqwa’s water.
Despite the deployment of 32 water trucks to serve affected areas, some residents continued to struggle for water.
In the immediate wake of the dam’s closure, Qwaqwa residents turned to those in neighbouring Makwane about 10km away for help.
“For the first weeks that we didn’t get water, we started going to the Makwane area where they still had access to water, walking with buckets,” said Qwaqwa resident Mpuse Mokoena.
With her home food garden wilting, resident Selina Modibedi said she had had to borrow from loan sharks to feed her family. In some rural areas, loan sharks can charge as much as 50 percent interest on informal loans.
“It hasn’t been easy for us as I depend on my garden for food so that I can eat with my seven grandchildren,” Modibedi said. “We don’t have any spinach or carrots to eat.
“I had to go to the loan sharks to borrow money so that I can buy food,” she added.
“The little water I get, I take some of it and pour in my garden so that my vegetables can grow.”
Motseki Moloi said he was afraid his cattle would die during the drought.
“My cattle are suffering because there is no water and grass for them to eat,” he said. “(It’s to) the point whereby I have to take one or two buckets (of water) from my house to share with my cattle.”
Following the arrival of four new water trucks early this month, local coucillors have urged the community to work with the municipality.
The municipality’s executive mayor, Vusi Tshabalala, said the trucks had arrived following an intervention by Minister of Water Affairs and Sanitation Nomvula Mokonyane and Free State Premier Ace Magashule. – Health-e News