Still no water for E Cape’s Zolani residents after 15 years

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Residents of Zolani in the Nyandeni Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape say they have been waiting for water for 15 years.

The residents, who barricaded the R61 in protest a year ago, say authorities have not fulfilled promises made at the time.

They have set up their own water tanks, but when these run dry, they resort to natural untreated water sources.

They also want decent road infrastructure, saying emergency vehicles cannot access the area.

Residents Bongiwe Mnyaka and Nokhulu Mbatha explain the challenges they live with.

“We drink this water because we do not have taps. We drink water with small organisms and this water is dirty, especially after rainfall. We have to wait for a person to fill her bucket and wait for it to be clean. We are asking to be assisted with water.”

“The struggles that we are facing here are real. When we came here there were pigs, we had to wait for it to be clean. The area that is above this stream, people use it to relieve themselves. When it rains, the faeces are washed to this stream. We have no other option but to drink the water, we even get sick.”

Another resident, Ayanda Dlani, says the lack of a decent road is of huge concern to the community.

“Last year in January we made an action because there is no water, there are no access roads for ambulances. We carry deceased people to the tar road. The Nyandeni Municipality promised us a 3km road, but they only made a 1.5km road.”

Reasons behind the delay

However, a ward committee member in the village, Mongezi Combo, says there are valid reasons for the delay.

“The delay with water provision is the pipe that has not been connected to Rosedale that will distribute water to the villages. The road issue, the councillor spoke to the mayor regarding it. The mayor came and promised to do a number of kilometres.”

Combo says the ward councillor will visit the village next week to give a progress report on the requested services.

The municipality did not respond to a request for comment.

Floods 

Last year, flood-affected residents in the Nyandeni Municipality desperately hoped to receive assistance from government.

A number of houses collapsed and bridges were washed away.

More details in the report below from last year: