The supply of water in the area has been a concern, mostly in villages such as Ditladi, Shashe Mooke, Borolong, Chadibe, Makobo, Natale, Jamataka and Mathangwane. These villages were in the past supplied with water by the council, through the Department of Water Affairs. But since WUC took over the supply of water in February this year, people have complained of delays in the connections, which they say has become a serious problem as they are forced to travel long distances to look for water. A majority of people in the Tonota region are not connected to water and most rely on public standpipes. "We normally fetch water from public standpipes, but most of the time, there is no water in these standpipes," said Sekisani Mabutho of Akuje Ward in Chadibe. She said she has been fetching water from the standpipe that is near the village customary court since water has not been connected in her yard. According to Mabutho, when there is no water at the standpipe, they resort to water from the Shashe River. Another villager, 76-year old Badiri Chibili, said he is also faced with a serious problem of water since he has been waiting to be connected. He wondered why the connection is taking so long since it was announced that WUC has taken over the supply of water in the village. Chibili said there are only five public standpipes in the whole of Chadibe Village. "Most people who are not connected like us depend on these standpipes, although they sometimes run out of water," he said, adding that there are always long queues of people who come to fetch water with wheelbarrows loaded with several buckets and 20-litre containers. For Joyce Amos of Dikgatho Ward, the only problem they have is that the standpipe that they used to get water from has since been closed by the council due to a leakage. She however said she has not yet applied for water connection since she cannot afford the required P925 connection fee. "If only WUC could connect the water for us on credit and we pay in instalments," she said. WUC's communications and public relations manager, Matida Mmipi, said out of the 491 applications that were made in Tonota, Ditladi, Shashe Mooke, Borolong, Chadibe, Makobo, Natale, Jamataka and Mathangwane, only 92 have been connected so far. She pointed out that the corporation is still dealing with the backlog that it found upon taking over water supply to Tonota North early this year. "Upon taking over, there was a backlog dating as far back as 2006," she said. "In trying to address this backlog, WUC has encountered challenges, including incomplete customer information and locating clients.
"Some clients only come forward to follow up on their applications after realising that their neighbours or someone they know has been connected." Mmipi said some clients, although they have been contacted by WUC, are not available when WUC is ready to connect them. To address this, WUC has resorted to scheduling connections for weekends and informing all those to be connected to avail themselves. Regarding customer information, Mmipi said WUC has been running a campaign advising all customers taken over under the Water Sector Reforms to visit their offices to sign Water Supply Agreements. "It is through these that we get to know our current customers in the area," she said. "WUC therefore hopes to be able to address the backlog by end of October 2010." She explained that they are still taking applications, but emphasised that customers must note that WUC's mandate does not include land servicing; therefore WUC will not respond to applications in non-serviced areas. She said WUC is on course and is about to embark on Phase Three areas, totalling 100 villages.
