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A resident fetching water from the dam. Photo by Joseph Mokoaledi.
DESPITE the recent deadly cholera outbreak in the Free State, communities are still sharing water with animals.
The province had two cholera outbreak fatalities where the Department of Health laboratories confirmed that the dead died because of cholera-related illness diseases.
The dead were from Vredefort and at Ngwathe Local Municipality in Fezile Dabi district.
The affected families are still traumatised by how their loved ones died because of the cholera outbreak.
Thousands of households struggle with minimal water supply, where taps run dry, and others continue consuming unclean water.
The residents of V2 township in Virginia are permanently drinking water from a river which might have dangerous chemicals from an abandoned Harmony Gold Mine.
Resident Dineo Tladi said their attempts to request Matjhabeng Municipality to address the issue didn’t bear fruit.
Municipality spokesman Tshidiso Tlali said that Matjhabeng cannot act until the formalisation process is complete since the area falls under Harmony.
Community leader Mohau Khumalo said the situation remains the same.
“There’s no improvement at all. Many residents are still drawing water from the unclean boreholes where animals drink. Cholera left many residents traumatised, especially if there was no sign of a corrective measure from the government.
“Government needs to take responsibility and put all necessary standards of clean sanitation in place as a basic need, and champion their own privileges of ‘Batho Pele’ principle,” he said.
A resident fetching water from the dam. Photo by Joseph Mokoaledi
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Service delivery activist Motebang Nakedi (67) said dirty water caused many unknown diseases except cholera.
“We have a massive shortage of water supply in our country, resulting in many people drinking unsafe water, which leads to diseases like cholera.
“This has compromised the lives of our people, especially the disadvantaged communities who can’t afford to pay for medical attention. The province has lost two people who died because of cholera-related illnesses. We can’t wait and witness massive deaths happening more than we’re anticipating,” he said.
Motebang stated that politicians are collapsing the country by appointing incompetent individuals to top positions.
“The incompetent individuals occupied the strategic positions without proper knowledge of their jobs. We call on President Cyril Ramaphosa to send a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to water institutions across the country.
“The government spends millions of rands to entities in an attempt to address water challenges, but that money becomes a legacy of corruption,” he said.
Daily Sun previously had an exclusive interview with deputy minister of water and sanitation David Mahlobo, who said apartheid channelled water from some of the big dams to benefit mines and Eskom in Gauteng and excluded local communities.
“Water from KZN and Lesotho was reserved in dams like Sterkfontein to support mines and Eskom. We have increased the abstraction of water, which means additional licences will be issued.
“We will take water from the system to our people. The underground water used by some of the communities is not 100% safe. We don’t want any South African to die as a result of water diseases,” he said.
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