Nelson Mandela’s home village of Qunu has been hit hard by a water crisis forcing residents to draw the precious liquid from pools normally used by animals.
Concerns have been raised that the situation could lead to an outbreak of waterborne diseases.
Villagers said taps had run dry two weeks ago and they now collected water from a fountain, near the Mandela family graveyard, which was serving more than 800 households. Villagers start queuing from as early as 5am every day.
A small pool has formed near the fountain and when the Daily Dispatch visited the site yesterday, sweet wrappers, condoms, cow dung, papers and green algae were seen in the water.
Some residents had to travel from surrounding villages to collect water from the fountain too.
“I am a mother of a 15-month-old boy and I fear for his health and that of his young siblings,” said Noluthando Mandela, who lives close to the former president’s house.
She boils the water and allow it to cool before drinking it. “This takes a lot of time to do so,” she said.
But some residents admitted they were not boiling the water.
Mzwandile Maqhwabane, who stays with his sick mother, said the situation was worrying.
“My mother needs to drink and be bathed with clean and purified water. Consuming such dirty water could make things worse,” he said.
Andile Nkunzi and Anelisiwe Manana said the village has slipped backwards to years gone by when people were forced to draw water from streams and fountains.
“This is of great concern, especially that we are Madiba’s home village. We should not be suffering like this. This village is known worldwide,” said Manana.
Staff at a local clinic said they had not seen an increase in the number of patients since the crisis started, but warned that water should be purified before drinking it.
Local traditional leader Nkosikazi Nokwanele Balizulu expressed concern at the situation and said she would take the matter up with authorities in the OR Tambo District Municipality.
“We are a poor village and fear that if there is an outbreak things will get a lot worse. We just hope that the water supply will be restored soon,” said Balizulu.
However, Balizulu partly blamed the community for the situation they had found themselves in because of illegal water connections.
“People connect their taps and it has caused problems with the supply and flow. There are some pipes which are bursting because some residents make illegal connections to their homes,” she said.
King Sabata Dalindyebo Ward 19 councillor Bulelwa Mazini said authorities were trying to sort the matter.
“The OR Tambo District Municipality is doing its best to ensure that there were no interruptions to the water supply,” said Mazini.
The councillor also expressed fear at a looming outbreak of disease. “I would be relieved if there could be water in Qunu taps before the end of the week.”
The municipality, which is the water authority for the area, is spending about R80-million on water-related infrastructure upgrades in the district.
No response was received from the municipality at the time of writing. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
Water crisis hits Qunu village
Concerns have been raised that the situation could lead to an outbreak of waterborne diseases.
Villagers said taps had run dry two weeks ago and they now collected water from a fountain, near the Mandela family graveyard, which was serving more than 800 households. Villagers start queuing from as early as 5am every day.
A small pool has formed near the fountain and when the Daily Dispatch visited the site yesterday, sweet wrappers, condoms, cow dung, papers and green algae were seen in the water.
Some residents had to travel from surrounding villages to collect water from the fountain too.
“I am a mother of a 15-month-old boy and I fear for his health and that of his young siblings,” said Noluthando Mandela, who lives close to the former president’s house.
She boils the water and allow it to cool before drinking it. “This takes a lot of time to do so,” she said.
But some residents admitted they were not boiling the water.
Mzwandile Maqhwabane, who stays with his sick mother, said the situation was worrying.
“My mother needs to drink and be bathed with clean and purified water. Consuming such dirty water could make things worse,” he said.
Andile Nkunzi and Anelisiwe Manana said the village has slipped backwards to years gone by when people were forced to draw water from streams and fountains.
“This is of great concern, especially that we are Madiba’s home village. We should not be suffering like this. This village is known worldwide,” said Manana.
Staff at a local clinic said they had not seen an increase in the number of patients since the crisis started, but warned that water should be purified before drinking it.
Local traditional leader Nkosikazi Nokwanele Balizulu expressed concern at the situation and said she would take the matter up with authorities in the OR Tambo District Municipality.
“We are a poor village and fear that if there is an outbreak things will get a lot worse. We just hope that the water supply will be restored soon,” said Balizulu.
However, Balizulu partly blamed the community for the situation they had found themselves in because of illegal water connections.
“People connect their taps and it has caused problems with the supply and flow. There are some pipes which are bursting because some residents make illegal connections to their homes,” she said.
King Sabata Dalindyebo Ward 19 councillor Bulelwa Mazini said authorities were trying to sort the matter.
“The OR Tambo District Municipality is doing its best to ensure that there were no interruptions to the water supply,” said Mazini.
The councillor also expressed fear at a looming outbreak of disease. “I would be relieved if there could be water in Qunu taps before the end of the week.”
The municipality, which is the water authority for the area, is spending about R80-million on water-related infrastructure upgrades in the district.
No response was received from the municipality at the time of writing. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
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