Limpopo villagers block road to protest three-month water outage

Villagers of Ga-Sekgopo blocked the R81 road to protest against a prolonged water shortage. Photo: Judas Sekwela.

Villagers from Ga-Sekgopo, Lehlareng section outside Modjadjiskloof in Limpopo, took to the streets on Monday to protest about a prolonged water outage. They said their taps have been dry for the past three months, and Mopani District Municipality has failed to explain why.

Protesters blocked the R81 road with stones, tree branches and burning tyres.

“It’s a serious problem that we must first protest before any action is taken,” said community leader Timothy Maluleke. “While we don’t support protests, people will eventually reach breaking point when leaders fail them.”

“There is water in the area and boreholes exist, yet taps are dry,” he said.

He said municipal water tankers were insufficient. People are spending their children’s social grant money to buy water from people with private boreholes.

District municipality spokesperson Odas Ngobeni said the municipality is aware of the water supply problems at Ga-Sekgopo. He said they had just completed an assessment and had identified a need to drill additional boreholes to augment the supply. This would be the first stage of a water scheme project, which would later include reticulation, but they were awaiting approval of a water service infrastructure grant.

Ngobeni said in the meantime, they are using water tankers for those who are not catered for by the available boreholes.

Map of Ga-Sekgopo, outside Modjadiskloof (OpenStreetMap)

Support independent journalism
Donate using Payfast