Problems with water are not new for the staff and patients at Elim Hospital. Four years ago, the boreholes stopped working, and since then, the hospital has been dependent on water tankers, supplied by the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM). This, however, has never been sufficient to supply the whole facility.

When visiting the hospital on Tuesday, 10 January, that it had no running water was evident. At the ablution facilities for men and women, two large black garbage bins were filled with water, along with buckets to be used to flush the toilets.

Limpopo Mirror spoke to one of the patients, who said that using toilets with no running water was disgusting. “We are forced to help ourselves when using these dirty toilets with no running water. It takes a long time before anyone assists you at this hospital,” he said.

According to Lawrence Muvhango, the organisational officer for Limpopo of the Public Servants Association (PSA), the situation started in 2019 after the first two boreholes drilled inside the hospital grounds stopped working. “Another borehole was drilled outside the hospital [grounds], but it was interfered with by local community members who are also suffering from a lack of water, who connected their illegal pipes. Now the hospital relies on three daily water tankers supplied by the VDM. But they don’t come every week, and the available water is not nearly enough to supply the entire hospital,” he said.

Muvhango went on to say that they had already reported the problem to the Department of Employment and Labour in order for them to visit the hospital and look into it. “The hospital currently owes the municipality almost R90 000. If the occupational health and safety inspectors are available, we might visit the hospital before the end of this week,” he said.

The spokesperson for the Department of Health in Limpopo, Mr Neil Shikwambana, said that the persistent drop in the sustainable water supply at the province’s hospitals had been a challenge. “Elim Hospital in the Vhembe District and Kgapane Hospital in the Mopani District are among the severely hit hospitals. The department is extensively engaging the water services authorities to find a sustainable resolution to this problem,” he said.

Shikwambana said that the department had written to the respective municipalities, indicating that the repercussions of this problem might see the closure of the hospitals. “If this long-standing issue is not resolved quickly, the administration may be forced to shut these facilities down. This week, the department will meet with the respective authorities on their plans to resolve the matter,” he said.