‘We cook with this water’ - Modimolle residents plagued by brownish water for over two years
Residents of Phagameng township in Modimolle in Limpopo are concerned about the brownish water that flows from their taps, and are calling on the Mookgopong-Modimolle local municipality to urgently intervene for the sake of their wellbeing.
According to frustrated residents, it's been more than two years since the water started turning brownish, and upon noticing that, they reported the matter to the local municipality.
However, they told IOL News that despite raising several complaints to the municipality about the state of water in their area, the municipality did nothing to address the issue.
Community leader, Hitler Khumalo, from Extension 6 said they started to experience brownish water coming from their taps in 2022.
“It's been a while since this issue started, we have reported it to the municipality many times, and urged them to resolve the matter because we feared for our lives. They don't seem to care about the lives of the residents.”
According to Khumalo, all areas at Modimolle and Mookgopong are experiencing the same issues, which he claimed started at the same time.
“We sent letters of complaints to the municipality demanding answers on what caused the water to turn brownish, but they failed to provide us with answers of what led the water to be like this,” he said, in an angry tone.
The water does not have a bad odour, according to him, but it comes out from the tap in a brownish colour everyday, which he described as something like mud.
Khumalo said they are compelled to boil the water every time when they use it, as they fear that it might result in danger if not boiled.
“We don't have a choice but to use the water, but we boil it first. Even though we fear for our safety and health, there is nothing we can do because some of us can’t afford to buy water from vendors. We drink, bathe, cook and wash our clothes with this water.”
He described the situation as a complete disaster because they are unable to wash white clothes, saying that the clothes change colour afterwards.
Another furious resident, Victor Lekgoba, from Extension 7, echoed Khumalo’s sentiments, saying that they have reported the matter to the local municipality, but their efforts did not yield any positive results.
Lekgoba complained that he has no choice but to use the water every day, as he cannot afford to purchase clean water from vendors due to unemployment.
“The challenge is that many of the people staying here cannot afford to buy clean water, because we are unemployed.”
Lekgoba accused the municipality of dragging their feet in addressing the issue and not being concerned about the safety and health of the residents.
“They don’t care about our lives, as we have been raising complaints about this issue many times. They don't listen to our demands and we have even lost hope because we have been complaining about one thing,” he told IOL News.
Lekgoba called on the municipality to urgently address the problem, saying that he feared residents could get infections from the brownish water.
In response to IOL News questions, the municipal spokesperson, Nafthaly Tlhoaela admitted that the area is experiencing brownish water emanating from the taps since 2022, but attributed that to constant pipe bursts.
“The municipality is experiencing frequent pipe bursts, which result in the mud getting in the pipes during the reconstruction process, and when we open the water supply, the water will be brownish in colour.”
According to Tlhoaela, the replacement of asbestos pipes with poly vinyl chloride pipes (PVC pipes), has also led to frequent pipe bursts.
“About two weeks ago, we had about 19 pipe bursts, but the municipality has appointed qualified people who know how to treat water.”
He said the municipality’s reservoir is clean and they supply clean and quality water to all the residents.
“We had a project in the last four months that was aimed at cleaning the reservoir and it's an ongoing project. So, the municipality is supplying clean water to all residents, but constant pipe bursts are the main problem.”
Tlhoaela said the municipality would be taking measures to address the issue and further called on residents to report the challenges they are enduring.
IOL News