No water as sewerage floods the streets

By Emily Setona

QWAQWA – A resident of Silahliwe in ward 24 Puseletso Mosia says that the community has been without water for 12 years and that overflowing sewerage is constantly flooding the streets,
According to Mosia, toddlers who go to Qholaqhwe crèche are exposed to the ever seeping sewage on a daily basis amid concerns this exposes them to health risks.

Ward councillors Mosele Dlamini and Hlabathe Dlamini of wards 30 and 32, respectively, attended a public consultation meeting where councillor Shashapa Motaung of ward 24 was supposed to be in attendance but excused himself.
In Motaung’s absence ward 24 residents said they reported their service delivery grievances on numerous occasions to Motaung but have received no help at all.
Residents of the three wards had gathered on April 23 to give their input into the draft budget of 2024/25.

“As a councillor I have reported our issue with water to MAPWater since 2019 and I have records; it has been four years of receiving no assistance with this issue. It cannot be correct that we have taps and pipes in our yards, but we do not have water, instead you see Jojo trucks going up and down our streets. We have a serious water crisis in this community, and we want to know why it is only affecting Tebang and Qholaqhwe,” ward councillor Hlabathe Dlamini said.

A Member of the Mayoral Committee responsible for water and sanitation, Alan Mofokeng, blamed the poor service delivery in Maluti-a-Phofung (MAP) on the community’s non-payment for services.
“The municipality cannot afford to fix its infrastructure because it does not have the money to do so. Pipes will always burst, and water will be scarce because people do not take care of their infrastructure, which is theirs. I will make sure to follow up on some of the issues raised today,” Mofokeng said.

Qholaqhwe residents during IDP roadshow.

Residents took issue with the fact that the draft budget does not include their communities in any of the projects that have been outlined in the document. They added that there was a contractor that was appointed to install sewerage pipes in the area but the job was not completed so sewerage is flowing into the streets and people’s yards.

MMC Napo Letlala who is a member of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) said: “The municipality is the community and its leaders, not us standing here. People who are afraid to hear the truth won’t want to admit this. The community does not pay for services therefore it becomes hard for the municipality to fix and maintain its infrastructure. Out of 35 wards only 14 wards pay for their services, and they are usually the urban residents while most of the rural communities don’t pay for services, yet expect for things to run smoothly, it is impossible for that to happen.”