The Department of Water and Sanitation has started with the groundwork to provide water to Giyani residents, almost 10 years after their taps ran dry.
Last year, Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu promised to solve Giyani’s water challenges during a visit.
Speaking to Sunday World this week, Anwen Mojela of Daniel Rababalela village said the residents purchase water from members of the village who sunk boreholes in their yards, adding they also depend on rainwater for survival.
“The water is not purified, we just drink it as it is, and it has been very challenging because if there’s no rain, it means we have to buy. If you don’t have money to buy, it means no water to bath, drink and cook,” said Mojela.
Greater Giyani municipality spokesperson Steven Mabunda said all the wards in the municipality have been battling with water challenges for about a decade.
He said Mchunu had assured the residents that the challenges would be solved by September.
“We are here to assure you that by September this year there will be water available in your villages,” Mchunu told the residents at the time.
“I must say that the Giyani Water Project has been an embarrassment to both the Department of Water and Sanitation and to government as a whole, but we are determined to make sure this project brings water in Giyani and the reticulation should also be to your households,” he said.
Mchunu has expressed his satisfaction with the work that has been done so far, saying the project was on course.
“This is indeed in contrast to what I saw last year because the project was hopeless and was not moving at all,” he said.
The department’s spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau, said: “A pipeline has been put down in Xikunkwani.”
He said 77.4% of the work has been done.
President Cyril Ramaphosa last week told the ANC Limpopo conference that the government is making progress with the Giyani Water Project.
The project, in limbo since 2014, has wasted about R3.2 -billion and was meant to provide clean water to the taps of about 55 villages in the Giyani area.
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