Tsholotsho Villagers Face Water Woes

ALMOST 40 years after independence, marginalised Tsholotsho villagers are still living in abject poverty, with no access to clean water and toilets, exposing them to waterborne diseases.

Villagers from Pumula, Nkunzi and Simanje 1 and 2 under chief Mahlathini and Gampu, who rely on unprotected water sources, said their situation has been exacerbated by the El-Nino-induced droughts which led to many of their water sources drying up.

Tsholotsho Villagers Face Water Woes

“In Pumula, we survive on drinking and cooking with muddy dam water, which we share with our livestock. This season, the dams in our vicinity have dried up and we have to walk 8km to the nearest water source and have to get there around three in the morning before wild animals and our livestock muddy it up. Those who have scotch carts load more containers, but I use a wheelbarrow, so I have to go there at least thrice a week,” villager Siphilisiwe Dlomo said.

Dlomo bemoaned government’s failure to drill boreholes in the area.

Another villager, Roy Tshuma, said they often suffer from diarrhoeal diseases as they were drinking unsafe water.

“Everyone, including the teachers and non-governmental organisations, relies on the contaminated dam water. Villagers have fallen sick at times and have to rely on traditional herbs to cure diarrhoea. Water will be cleaner during the rainy season because animals then survive on rivers, but now human beings and animals drink from the same source,” Tshuma said.

Asked if they purified the water, Dlomo said: “We don’t boil it, its fetched overnight. The parasites die when you keep the water in a container for days, but some well-up villagers, who can afford waterguard, treat their water sometimes.”

Vine Khuya from Simanje Village said three boreholes, which serviced over 1000 homesteads in the area, were always down.

“Right now, we have two that are barely working, but the water that comes out is rusty. The boreholes were drilled long back by white people and they have never been serviced,” Khuya said.

He said villagers have lost livestock to the drought.

Published On October 15,2018-view