For almost three months, hundreds of villagers in Buffalo City Metro have been forced to share murky dam water with livestock.
Ngqinisa villagers in Tsholomnqa have been forced to go back to fetching water from unhygienic dams and streams, which expose them to diseases like cholera, after taps ran dry in the area.
Fortunately for the villagers, no one has fallen sick from consuming the murky dam water. Concerned villager Nongatheni Rhululu said the taps have been dry for close to three months.
To add to the villagers’ water woes, the dam is on the verge of running out of water because of the drought that has gripped parts of the Eastern Cape.
“We have a farming project here. The Siyakhana Agricultural Project suffers because we don’t have enough water for the plants as a result some of them end up dying.
“We drink water from the same dam that cows, donkeys, sheep and all other livestock use. Sometimes we get up early in the morning to fetch water, but when we get to the dam we find that the animals have already helped themselves,” Rhululu said, adding that pupils end up being late for school because they have to fetch water from the dam before school.
Hlekiwe Siwali said they boil the water occasionally, depending on how urgent they need it.
“A truck comes here once in two weeks to pour in water into the dam but that water lasts for a day because everyone in the village uses it.
“We have had several meetings with our ward councillor, he always promises to sort out the problem but never delivers,” she said.
Ward 32 councillor Vuyani Peter said Amatola Water was to blame for their water problems.
“Amatola Water are the ones who are creating problems for us, they run the reservoirs. The reservoirs have some faults because the big pipes cannot transfer the water to the small pipes that are connected to the taps.
“All the reservoirs belong to Amatola, all we do as the municipality is to help our communities by providing them with clean water.
“We reported the problem to Amatola Water. They are dragging their feet. We can’t take the fall for Amatola Water’s mistakes,” he said.
But Amatola Water spokeswoman Connie Buso-Niwa said: “Amatola Water cannot comment as it is BCM that is responsible for the reticulation that services the village.”
BCM spokeswoman Bathandwa Diamond said Tsholomnqa villages, which include Ngqinisa, is serviced by Amatola Water.
“Our maintenance team will, however, investigate whether the source of the alleged problem is on the Amatola Water’s bulk system or on BCMM reticulation system and resolve the problem immediately. To assist the villagers we have dedicated two water tankers to assist all the villages including Ngqinisa.”
Peter denied allegations that the trucks only cart water once in two weeks to the village, saying the municipality carts water twice or three times in a week.
“Saying we are not delivering is a lie. We always tell them to call the municipality if they see that they are running out of water.”
The truck is on standby for as long as people need water. — zikhonam@dispatch.co.za
Villagers, animals share water
Ngqinisa villagers in Tsholomnqa have been forced to go back to fetching water from unhygienic dams and streams, which expose them to diseases like cholera, after taps ran dry in the area.
Fortunately for the villagers, no one has fallen sick from consuming the murky dam water. Concerned villager Nongatheni Rhululu said the taps have been dry for close to three months.
To add to the villagers’ water woes, the dam is on the verge of running out of water because of the drought that has gripped parts of the Eastern Cape.
“We have a farming project here. The Siyakhana Agricultural Project suffers because we don’t have enough water for the plants as a result some of them end up dying.
“We drink water from the same dam that cows, donkeys, sheep and all other livestock use. Sometimes we get up early in the morning to fetch water, but when we get to the dam we find that the animals have already helped themselves,” Rhululu said, adding that pupils end up being late for school because they have to fetch water from the dam before school.
Hlekiwe Siwali said they boil the water occasionally, depending on how urgent they need it.
“A truck comes here once in two weeks to pour in water into the dam but that water lasts for a day because everyone in the village uses it.
“We have had several meetings with our ward councillor, he always promises to sort out the problem but never delivers,” she said.
Ward 32 councillor Vuyani Peter said Amatola Water was to blame for their water problems.
“Amatola Water are the ones who are creating problems for us, they run the reservoirs. The reservoirs have some faults because the big pipes cannot transfer the water to the small pipes that are connected to the taps.
“All the reservoirs belong to Amatola, all we do as the municipality is to help our communities by providing them with clean water.
“We reported the problem to Amatola Water. They are dragging their feet. We can’t take the fall for Amatola Water’s mistakes,” he said.
But Amatola Water spokeswoman Connie Buso-Niwa said: “Amatola Water cannot comment as it is BCM that is responsible for the reticulation that services the village.”
BCM spokeswoman Bathandwa Diamond said Tsholomnqa villages, which include Ngqinisa, is serviced by Amatola Water.
“Our maintenance team will, however, investigate whether the source of the alleged problem is on the Amatola Water’s bulk system or on BCMM reticulation system and resolve the problem immediately. To assist the villagers we have dedicated two water tankers to assist all the villages including Ngqinisa.”
Peter denied allegations that the trucks only cart water once in two weeks to the village, saying the municipality carts water twice or three times in a week.
“Saying we are not delivering is a lie. We always tell them to call the municipality if they see that they are running out of water.”
The truck is on standby for as long as people need water. — zikhonam@dispatch.co.za
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