Villagers cry foul after 15 years without water despite living 3km from a dam

Two villages outside Phuthaditjhaba in QwaQwa, Free State, are located about three kilometres from the Metsimatsho Dam. And yet they have not had tap water for 15 years, according to the residents.

A pipeline from the Metsimatsho Dam to Makwane, 10km to the north, runs right through Jwala Boholo and Qoqolosing villages, but their water supply is meant to come from a reservoir filled by a different dam, the Fika-Patso Dam, more than 30km away. However, for the past 15 years, say the villagers, their standpipes have been dry.

Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality spokesperson Tebogo Radebe blamed the lack of water on illegal connections to the pipeline from Fika-Patso that “have significantly reduced the amount of water reaching the reservoir, which in turn affects the water supply to the community”.

She said a new pipeline was being constructed to the Qoqolosing reservoir, “which will greatly benefit the people of Jwala Boholo once completed”.

Women fetch water at a spring in Qoqolosing. They queue from as early as 5am. (Photo: Tladi Moloi)

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