Makwarela has two boreholes but no water in the taps

The Makwarela community outside Thohoyandou is seeking answers from Vhembe District Municipality as to why the water taps in their yards are still running dry, even though a new borehole was drilled two years ago.

Community leader Thivhileli Mutobvu said they had notified Vhembe Municipality several times, to no avail.

Two boreholes had been drilled in the area, one at Makwarela stadium, and the other one at the Makwarela community hall, two years ago. But although a transformer has been installed for the pump, no water is being pumped from the new borehole.

Currently, water is pumped from the borehole at the stadium to water tanks at Makwarela community hall, from where it is supposed to be pumped to the primary school and then to the residents’ taps. But no water is being pumped to the tanks at the Mbaleni Primary School or the community.

Residents have resorted to buying water from others with private boreholes.

Matodzi Ralushai, Vhembe District’s communication officer, said Makwarela had grown fast and this had affected planning. He said progress was being made in resolving the water problem.

Speaking to GroundUp, Mutobvu said some residents had to walk far to buy water.

Rebecca Muruba, a pensioner, told GroundUp that her poultry farming business had been badly affected by the shortage of water. “Since our taps ran dry, my business has become expensive to run. Chickens need a lot of water, especially during hot periods. Currently, I am using R700 per month to buy water from those who have boreholes at their homes.”

Another woman, who did not want her name published, also in poultry farming, said she had to hire a private car at R100 a trip to fetch water from a borehole 12km away. She uses 25 buckets of water every week.

Source: © 2019 GroundUp. (https://www.groundup.org.za/article/makwarela-has-two-boreholes-no-water-taps/)

News - Date: 04 October 2019

Bernard Chiguvare

Bernard Chiguvare is a Zimbabwean-born journalist. He writes mainly for the online publication, Groundup.

Email: [email protected]