THOUSANDS of villagers in Mount Frere sang and danced with joy yesterday as the first drops of water appeared from taps newly installed in their villages.
It brought to an end years of struggle to access one of nature’s most precious commodities.
For 28-year-old Olwethu Mvuzani of Sinqezu village, and many others, it was also the first time they had ever tasted purified tap water.
The taps were installed by the Alfred Nzo district and Umzimvubu local municipalities as part of the R35-million Qwidlana Water Scheme set to deliver clean water to more than 7000 rural residents in 14 villages in Mount Frere.
“We have been waiting patiently,” said Mvuzani. “I can’t describe how most of us feel now that this has become a reality.”
In the midst of yesterday’s excitement, Alfred Nzo mayor Eunice Diko warned that villagers must take care of the scheme so that it could serve them for years to come.
She said vandalism of water infrastructure was prevalent in the district and cost the district municipality millions of rands to repair.
“The reality is that money spent fixing damaged and vandalised infrastructure could be better spent creating other water schemes to deliver water to other needy villages,” she said.
The communities who received clean water yesterday had previously relied on springs and seasonal steams for their drinking water which were prone to contamination.
Diko and Umzimvubu mayor Khulukazi Phangwa also officially handed over 800 toilets to the community of Qwidlana.
“It is painful to see our people having to relieve themselves in open spaces because there are no toilets. We hope these will help restore people’s dignity as promised by the government when it came into power in 1994,” said Diko.
Ntsebenzo Mdoda, a ward committee member at Qwidlana, said the village had to battle cholera outbreaks in the past due to contaminated water.
“But we never gave up hope that one day we would be able to draw clean water from taps like other people,” he said.
Nokhwezi Dyantyi, from Nabinja village, said many people from her village used to complain of runny stomachs as they were forced to drink dirty water.
She was happy with the toilets saying “we were forced to use open spaces to relieve ourselves.
“When it rained, the whole thing would be washed into the very same streams we used for drinking water”.
Phangwa said it was hoped the project would bring relief to thousands of households as there was no nearby river to help villagers. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
Drops of clean water joy for villagers
It brought to an end years of struggle to access one of nature’s most precious commodities.
For 28-year-old Olwethu Mvuzani of Sinqezu village, and many others, it was also the first time they had ever tasted purified tap water.
The taps were installed by the Alfred Nzo district and Umzimvubu local municipalities as part of the R35-million Qwidlana Water Scheme set to deliver clean water to more than 7000 rural residents in 14 villages in Mount Frere.
“We have been waiting patiently,” said Mvuzani. “I can’t describe how most of us feel now that this has become a reality.”
In the midst of yesterday’s excitement, Alfred Nzo mayor Eunice Diko warned that villagers must take care of the scheme so that it could serve them for years to come.
She said vandalism of water infrastructure was prevalent in the district and cost the district municipality millions of rands to repair.
“The reality is that money spent fixing damaged and vandalised infrastructure could be better spent creating other water schemes to deliver water to other needy villages,” she said.
The communities who received clean water yesterday had previously relied on springs and seasonal steams for their drinking water which were prone to contamination.
Diko and Umzimvubu mayor Khulukazi Phangwa also officially handed over 800 toilets to the community of Qwidlana.
“It is painful to see our people having to relieve themselves in open spaces because there are no toilets. We hope these will help restore people’s dignity as promised by the government when it came into power in 1994,” said Diko.
Ntsebenzo Mdoda, a ward committee member at Qwidlana, said the village had to battle cholera outbreaks in the past due to contaminated water.
“But we never gave up hope that one day we would be able to draw clean water from taps like other people,” he said.
Nokhwezi Dyantyi, from Nabinja village, said many people from her village used to complain of runny stomachs as they were forced to drink dirty water.
She was happy with the toilets saying “we were forced to use open spaces to relieve ourselves.
“When it rained, the whole thing would be washed into the very same streams we used for drinking water”.
Phangwa said it was hoped the project would bring relief to thousands of households as there was no nearby river to help villagers. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
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