Mmopane at standstill
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Wednesday September 9, 2015 18:00
The situation was unveiled yesterday when Minerals, Energy and Water Resources minister, Kitso Mokaila held a much anticipated kgotla meeting in the village that has borne the brunt of the water crisis.
Together with Tlokweng and Mogoditshane, taps in Mmopane have been the driest as the North South Carrier has frequently leaked and burst, resulting in weeks of thirst for consumers.
Enterprising businessmen in the village have taken to setting up informal water selling points, where they sell the precious liquid from Jojo tanks for as much as P1 per litre. A nurse at Mmopane clinic, Boineelo Nthomamiso, yesterday told Mokaila that they are failing to do their job diligently due to the water shortage that has hit hard in the last two months.
Nthomamiso said the clinic had registered cases of people suffering stomach pains and diarrhoea due to water bought from opportunistic street water vendors.
“Our clinic has no water at all and we have been relying on one Jojo which is at one of the nurse’s houses. The clinic has three nurses and we all depend on that Jojo when there is no water.”
“At times we fail to wash people’s wounds because there will be no water. The situation is so terrible because we cannot stitch wounds without washing them first.”
“We feel something needs to be done at the clinic. At least a Jojo tank should be bought. Some of our patients need to drink their tablets at the clinic in the morning, and they can’t do this without water,” she said.
Nthomamiso said villagers had no choice but to buy water from the streets even without knowing its source.
Mary Ditlhako, a teacher at one of Mmopane’s public primary schools, described the situation as terrible, saying the institution could not prepare meals for children and learners have nowhere to relieve themselves.
“At times we are forced to return students to their homes because of the situation. This has affected our classes because we have cut the number of working hours since we can’t provide food or drinking water,” she said.
Another resident, Patricia Nokane, told Mokaila that the water crisis had overhauled their way of living. “It is even becoming dangerous for us because we have to wake up around past eleven in the evening to fetch water.
We cannot keep on buying water. The ministry should come up with a plan on how we are going to have water.
At least the Jojo tanks should be put on areas where people can easily get water,” he said.
Another speaker at the kgotla, Agnes Ntshayagae, demanded to know why consumers in the area are still receiving high bills when they do not have water. Mokaila said his Ministry was working around the clock for a solution on alleviating Mmopane’s water blues. He explained that Mmopane was among the hardest hit because it was uphill of the water network and thus was saturated slower than other areas.
“I will meet with members of the Village Development Committee for us to decide where we can put Jojo tanks.
People should know that the water will not be enough but it is important that we share what we have,” he said. Mokaila said his Ministry would also consult the ministries of health and education to find ways of addressing threats faced by schools and clinics.
He added that the situation has taught them a lesson about the importance of having water storage.