KZN villagers forced to use meagre social grants to fix broken water infrastructure

Frustrated villagers in Ndatshana, near Nquthu in rural KwaZulu-Natal, have used their social grants to contribute towards fixing old water pipes and installing basic infrastructure.

Taps in the community had been dry for seven years, according to the residents. People would spend up to three hours fetching water from the communal borehole. They said their water infrastructure was old and had never been repaired by the Umzinyathi District Municipality.

So in July last year, the villagers agreed to collect R300 from each household to raise enough money to hire plumbers, buy two water pumps (worth about R36,000 each), taps and pipes.

When we visited Ndatshana last week, Phindile Gumbi was collecting R100 from community members to fix one of the pumps.

“Most people here depend on social grants and government pensions. We actually can’t afford (to contribute) this money but we are forced to pay it because it helps us access water,” said Gumbi.

Khethiwe Masango said she was paying her family’s share because they no longer wanted to walk long distances with heavy wheelbarrows filled with water containers.

Collapse of infrastructure

DM