#water crisis

Gift Rampai

The current water crisis in Matjhabeng has reached catastrophic proportions with the ongoing situation that has warranted intervention from the national government. Last year the Minister of Water and Sanitation pledged half a billion to replace the old infrastructure that is attributed to the current situation in Matjhabeng municipality.

Local councilors have given assurance that the crisis will be resolved within a week, but after ten days the situation has remained the same. Every ward has been affected and businesses could not escape the onslaught of this conundrum, ablution facilities at the shopping malls were not accessible to the public, and shop owners had to find alternative ways to get water for toilets. Security guards were manning the toilet entrances to prevent people from gaining access to relieve themselves.

We’re in the middle of mid-year exams and the academic program was interrupted because some schools had to temporarily close, and that almost had a negative bearing on the launching of the SAVE THE CHILDRENBENCHMARKS research. The council provided water by bringing trucks but that was still not enough to cover the whole municipality of six towns. The quality of the water could not be trusted especially in the backdrop of the outbreak of the current cholera virus that has hit the neighbouring Moqhaka municipality.

This situation led to the residents taking matters into their own hands and blocking the streets with rubble and debris.