Villagers have had no tap water for 15 years, but they live 3km from a dam

Grandmother Emily Tsotetsi fetches water at a culvert. “It is dangerous here for someone of my age, but I don’t have a choice,” she said. Photos: Tladi Moloi

Two villages outside Phuthaditjhaba in Qwaqwa, Free State, are located about three kilometres from the Metsi-Matsho Dam. And yet they have not had tap water for 15 years, according to the residents.

A pipeline from the Metsi-Matsho Dam to Makwane, 10km to the north, runs right through Jwala-Boholo and Qoqolosing villages, but their water supply is meant to come from a reservoir filled by a different dam, the Fika Patso Dam, over 30km away. However, for the last 15 years, say the villagers, their standpipes have been dry.

Maluti-a-Phofung (MAP) Local Municipality spokesperson Tebogo Radebe blamed the lack of water on illegal connections to the pipeline from Fika Patso that “have significantly reduced the amount of water reaching the reservoir, which in turn affects the water supply to the community”.

She said a new pipeline is being constructed to the Qoqolosing reservoir, “which will greatly benefit the people of Jwala-Boholo once completed”.

Meanwhile, MAP supplies water via trucks, and the supply is unreliable, the villagers say. Last week, when the truck came, the villagers celebrated. They said water had not been delivered since before the election in May. The municipality denies this, but admits there have been issues.

Villagers say they last had water in their standpipes in 2008, and they have been protesting about the situation for years. They suspect corruption with water truck tenders as the reason things have stayed this way for so long.

Mokoena Mpatua said she was arrested back in 2018 during a water protest. “It hurts that one went to jail for fighting for the truth,” she said.

Women fetch water at a spring in Qoqolosing. They queue as early as 5am.

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