No water, no vote, say residents of this Limpopo township

Families in Musina say they are sick of faulty municipal service

Letti Thonga collects water from the municipal tanker. She says since she moved to Campbell township in 2019, she has never had a regular water supply. Photo: Bernard Chiguvare

Residents of Campbell township in Musina say unless their water supply is fixed, no-one will vote in the municipal elections next month.

When GroundUp visited on 15 October, residents had lined up empty containers in the street hoping that the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) tanker would arrive.

Several people said they had inconsistent running water in the taps for months.

While GroundUp was there, two water tankers arrived. The residents said this was only because they had complained on a WhatsApp group saying that unless they had water they would not vote.

About ten people gathered at a Musina Local Municipality satellite office to complain. Some held placards reading “No water! no vote!”.

“VDM is only delivering water to this township as we are going towards elections,” said Nomsa Mamathumntsha, who has lived in Campbell since 2021. “We want a permanent solution, water in our taps.”

Her tap had been dry for three months, she said. Some houses had no tap at all, she said.

GroundUp sent questions to the VDM on 15 October but has not received a response. In a notice on 10 October, the municipality warned of low water pressure in Musina because an electrical breakdown had affected boreholes on the Limpopo River.

But water in Musina has been a problem for years, with residents protesting about poor supply.

“I have been in Campbell since 2019 and we have never had water regularly,” said Letti Thonga, who was pushing a wheelbarrow with 20-litre containers to the water truck. “I have an inside toilet, and it becomes very challenging if we do not have water for flushing.”

“I am unable to buy water, as I am unemployed,” said Thonga.

Community leader Elvis Mamathumntsha said residents had to buy water or fetch it from a borehole at a mosque or the pump station.

There are three reservoirs north of the township, two constructed by a mining company which has left, and one by the municipality. They are unused and overgrown with bush.

In October 2019, Musina officials told Parliament’s Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs about inadequate infrastructure, an unreliable water source and no maintenance programme. The committee told VDM and the provincial government to do more to support the local municipality.

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