By Thomo Nkgadima
A regional political party in Limpopo has taken up the the grief of a family in Sekhukhune after its member drowned in a well outside the village.
On November 22, Jerry Matlala, 44, of Phokwane, near Jane Furse, drowned after his head hit a rock and lost consciousness while he was drawing water from the well.
The family of the mentally ill man wants justice but they can’t afford the route that leads there.
Tonic Manchidi, the leader of the Democratic Union Party, said he felt compelled to act on the behalf of the Matlala family.
“We are saddened by Matlala’s death. We have opened a case of of negligence against the [Makhuduthamaga] municipality,” Manchidi said.
“The municipality is in contempt of a Pretoria high Court order compelling the municipality to supply villagers with water which the residents store in their storage tanks every second week. The court ordered the council to devise and implement a long term sustainable plan for the supply of water to its communities.
“The municipality is failing the communities and disregards the court order. One death is one too many and we cannot allow the government to continue ruling in contempt of its mandate. In this case, the mandate to deliver on a basic right – water,” he added.
Sunday World has learnt that Matlala, whose family does not have access to piped water at home and community, was trying to have some water to drink. He went to the well to drink, and to bring home some for cooking.
Lack of access to water has cost us
Matlala’s brother, Puleng Matlala, said two weeks later, the family was still shocked by the manner his younger brother died.
He said the family was informed by an eyewitness who saw Jerry fall into the well. The witnessed ran to inform the Matlala family about the incident.
“We arrived at the well and found his lifeless body floating on the water,” Puleng said.
“The lack of access to tap water has negatively impacted the quality of our lives. Now with must deal with a death in the family because of the water problem.”
Asked about the progress of the case on Friday, Manchidi said police told him they were still investigating. The case number is known to Sunday World.
“We’ll keep checking on it because this is a matter of human rights. It’s worse now that someone had to die for it,” he said.
Matlala’s death comes after many years of empty promises by government to supply portable, clean running tap water to the villagers in Sekhukhune district.
In 2014, former president Jacob Zuma spun more words of promise during the official opening of the R3.4-billion De Hoop Dam. The dam has the capacity of 347 million cubic metres.
Nine years later, residents of villages in Fetakgomo Tubatse, Elias Motswaledi, Ephraim Mogale and Makhuduthamaga municipalities are still without drinkable tap water.
Manchidi also cited the water situation as dire in many villages in Fetakgomo Tubatse municipality. These include Ga-Malepe, Penge, Ga-Moraba, Ga-Moremi, Segabeng and Ga-Mokgotho.
According to April Sekhukhune district municipality integrated development plan (IDP) budget for 2022/2023, an amount of R279-million municipal infrastructure grant (MIG) was allocated to make provision for a bulk water supply project but no money was spent on the project. Instead of helping the local municipalities, the money was returned unused to National Treasury.
Walking through bushes to access water
Meanwhile, Neff Motseo of Ga-Malepe village, said: “We now rely on a well and water reticulation plant built by the apartheid government for our water. The new government is failing to maintain the existing infrastructure from apartheid days.”
Ashley Mohlala of Segabeng village said: “We walk through thick and thorny bushes to reach a well. We ask the government to provide us with clean running tap water; it is our basic right.”
Sekiti Makofane of Penge said: “We did not have taps in our yards during apartheid but we had access to clean running water from communal taps. Now we must go to wells and springs in the bushes or go to rivers for water.”
When contacted for comment, the spokesperson of water authority at Sekhukhune district municipality, Lemson Moropjane, said: “We will revert back to you. Let me investigate.”
Apart from De Hoop, Sekhukhune, a mining and farming region, has three other major dams for water supply. These are Loskop, Flag Boshielo and Piet Gouws.
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