Clean drinking water for the community of Tshamahansi is like a dream that cannot be realized.
Pretty Ndaba
Water crisis continues to be a serious challenge to the community of Tshamahansi village so people are forced to resort to primitive ways of doing their laundry. They have to go to Magangoa dam every weekend just for laundry. Each weekend we see people going to the dam to do laundry, and local councilors don’t seem to worry about this situation. We need to see serious intervention from local government, this is a clear indication of how spineless our leadership at grassroots level is.
Women are the most affected by this crisis more than any other in the community. In some cases, one has to walk for thirty to forty-five minutes just to have access to water to do laundry. Others use wheelbarrows to fetch the water from the dam. The irony is that the municipality, the custodian of the land and whose sole responsibility is to supply clean water to the community is now selling instead of supplying people with water. The culprit is known to the community because he stays right among the people of Tshamahansi, they just don’t know the correct procedure to follow in order to report him for the crime he is committing against the people.
It is so disheartening to see women go to the dam with their children, this is very risky because children may drown while the mothers are busy with washing and not paying attention. Several incidents of children drowning at this dam have been recorded in the past, some are as young as five to eleven years. Others drown while they try to swim while others die trying to drink the deadly water from the dam.
The ward councilor has since promised the community that the matter will receive attention, but nothing has come out of it. The municipality has not engaged the community regarding this matter and people are complaining in silos.
As activists we feel that the only option left to us is to approach the human rights commission and report the Mokgalakwena local municipality for human rights violation. The Department of Water and Sanitation will be listed as the second respondents in this case. We shall also seek help from organisations that deal with and defend human rights against any violation. All that we want to see is justice for the people of Tshamahansi village and Mokgalakwena at large.
