Limpopo village without water after heavy floods wash away pipes

This pipe, which crosses the Selati River, supplies water to Ba-Pahalborwa town, but it was severely damaged by heavy floods in January. Photo: Bernard Chiguvare

Heavy flooding in January has left hundreds of people in Boelang village, about 15km southwest of Ba-Phalaborwa in Limpopo, without municipal water for almost two months. Ba-Phalaborwa itself is on a “water-shedding” schedule, receiving water every two days.

The floods damaged the two main pipelines supplying the area, according to Mopani District Municipality spokesperson Odas Ngobeni. A pump station has also failed.

A service provider has been appointed to repair the pipelines and pump, Ngobeni said in a statement. He did not say when the repairs would be completed.

Boelang resident Cath Abrams said she has arranged with her employer in Ba-Phalaborwa to fill containers with between 70 and 80 litres of water to take home.

She said the community has a borehole where residents queue to collect untreated. She uses it for washing clothes and flushing the toilet.

Water tankers provided by the Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality are unreliable, she said.

“It is very frustrating. Some residents wait for the tanker to come to their road, but it never arrives because of the state of the roads,” she said.

Municipality spokesperson Jonas Mahesu did not respond to calls or messages.

A 53-year-old woman, who asked not to be named, said she is worried about whether her cats, chickens and dogs will have enough water. She has also been unable to water the vegetables in her garden.

She brings drinking water from the house in Ba-Phalaborwa where she works as a domestic worker.

A 66-year-old man, who also asked not to be named, said he delivers containers of water free of charge twice a week to vulnerable residents who cannot stand by the roadside waiting for water trucks. He collects the water from residents who have boreholes.

“I realised that some families have no transport to fetch water from far places, and some elderly people can no longer carry buckets of water,” he said.

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