Four months without a drop of water for Mabotsha residents
MABOTSHA
Mabotsha (Ward 30) residents outside Burgersfort in the Fetakgomo Tubatse Local Municipality (FTLM) continue to buy water from truckers. The villagers divulged to Sekhukhune Times that they haven’t received a drop of water since January.
According to residents, the pump machines in their area are old and always broken. They highlighted that they have reported the matter to the relevant authorities including local councillors without any assistance.
“We now have to rely on buying water; this is a major concern for us as most of us do not work. The authorities need to at least supply us with water tankers as they do with other villages struggling with water,” suggested one community member.
The community members pleaded with the Sekhukhune District Municipality (SDM) to ensure water is restored to the village.
Mabotsha’s water problems are in contradiction to what the SDM has promised. The municipality has vowed to fight water problems in local villages.
On February 9, when Julia Mathebe was announced as the executive mayor of SDM, she launched Operation Tlema Tekkiere Nwe Meetse, loosely translated as “Let us work hard to ensure people have water”.
“This is a call to action to all of us, from the executive mayor, MMCs and ward councillors to municipal officials at every level,” said Mathebe. “Under this operation, I will join the blue collar workers at the site and brave the scorching heat, if that is what it’ll take for the people of Sekhukhune to get water. We will hit the ground running.”
During her recent IDP/Budget, she revealed, “While we acknowledge that our challenges regarding water and sanitation services are massive, one thing we must agree on is that time for talking, without action, is over,” she said as she concluded her speech.
Two weeks ago, this publication forwarded queries to the SDM’s communications officer Moloko Moloto, about the challenges experienced by the residents. At the time of going to print there was no comment from the municipality.
