R20-Million Water Project Fails to Quench Limpopo Villagers’ Thirst

• The Vhembe District Municipality spent about R20-million on the Mashau Doli water project in 2019 to improve water supply to rural villages.
• But years after the project was completed, most households are still without access to a reliable water supply.
• Households now rely on a single diesel-powered borehole, which is often out of service because the municipality fails to supply diesel.

For years, residents of Ha-Mashau Doli and nearby villages, including Guvhungwa and Mariadze, in Limpopo, have been struggling with water shortages.

Despite the Vhembe District Municipality spending about R20-million on the Mashau Doli water project in 2019, most households are still without access to a reliable water supply.

The project was meant to benefit about 700 rural households.

Ha-Mashau Doli has three boreholes, of which one is operational.

One borehole is waiting for electrification by Eskom, but residents reject it as an option because of ongoing power cuts.

Villagers rely on a single diesel-powered borehole, which is often out of service because of the municipality’s failure to supply diesel. It serves only a few standpipes, forcing most residents to travel long distances to fetch water with wheelbarrows. Some have no access at all.

People are forced to buy water at R2 per container. Those who can afford it, spend up to R300 to refill their water tanks.

The tender for the water project was jointly awarded to HLTC and Splish Splash Construction. It included a reservoir, pipelines, standpipes and the refurbishment of two boreholes. However, residents claim the project was poorly executed, using substandard materials.

During a visit to the water project site on 15 December, GroundUp found the new and old reservoirs empty.

One borehole, drilled more than a year ago, had pipes missing and a water pump that had not been connected to electricity. Several standpipes were also missing taps.

Resident Melisa Sadiki said, “We were told the refurbished borehole no longer has enough water to supply the reservoir. Some of us are unemployed and cannot afford water tanks. We are calling on the government to provide us with water because it is a basic need.”

Edward Mpakwe, secretary of the Mashau Doli Civic Committee, said the project has not yet been handed over to the community because of unresolved complaints.

“We rejected Eskom’s energisation of the borehole because the diesel-powered one was already in place. We wanted two energy sources because the municipality rarely services electric boreholes,” he said.

Residents also argue that the contractor should have drilled two additional boreholes instead of constructing an empty reservoir.

Splish Splash Construction owner Thuso Mbadi insisted that the project was completed as planned.

“We did our work and sat down with the community. They agreed that we had completed the scope of work, tested, and opened the project for them. They signed off on it. They raised concerns, so we even added seven standpipes, which were not part of the project, as a donation,” said Mbadi.

But residents we spoke to, and the civic committee leaders, deny signing anything with the contractor.

Questions sent to the other contractor went unanswered.

Municipal spokesperson Matodzi Ralushai said the contractors had completed the scope of their work in March 2022. He admitted that households would have to rely on the boreholes until they can be supplied by neighbouring water projects which are underway.

He said the Department of Water and Sanitation has indicated that the Nandoni Mavambe to Vuwani Bulk Pipeline project would be finished by May 2025.

This article is co-published with the Limpopo Mirror.

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