News24 | Limpopo village residents fix faulty pipelines themselves after 3 months without water

• Mushiru village went three months without running water due to leaks in the central water pipe system.
• More than 400 households contributed R10 each, a long-standing community practice during village emergencies.
• The community bought 11 pipes and joint sealants from Aardvark Sibasa and mobilised locals via community groups on WhatsApp.

Residents of Mushiru village in Vhembe, Limpopo, had no running water for three months due to leaks in the central water pipe system.

Every day, families, including elders who depend on social grants, and households with no income, were forced to buy water to cook, wash, and drink.

According to resident Edwin Matenzhe, the problem was reported multiple times to the Thulamela Local Municipality.

“After repeated reports to the municipality went unanswered, they finally came on 9 November to fix the leakages, but the fix didn’t last,” he added.

Matenzhe said the team arrived without the proper tools or materials.

“They just cut a small pipe and joined it instead of replacing the whole pipe. When the work was completed, the person who opened the water in the village opened it, and the pipe burst in the same spot. We were going to go another three months without water.”

That burst became the final blow for the village, which has pipes that were installed in 1994, which easily crack under pressure.

“The issue is the pipe around the village. The pipe is too old; it was installed in 1994, and to date, the pipelines have not been replaced despite the ageing infrastructure and growing population. When there is pressure of the water, the pipe bursts,” ward committee member Rolivhuwa Mudau said

“Sometimes the process of the municipality is different. When there is a problem, we need to report it, but the process is not fast. As you know, water is life, so we had to take initiative.”

Long tradition of contributing to solve problems

He said Mushiru had a long tradition — five years — of contributing money per household whenever there is a problem in the village.

“The village has about 430 households, meaning they can raise enough to buy replacement pipes whenever necessary,” Mudau said.

Matenzhe told News24: “We have elderly people who depend on social grants, and the unemployment rate is very high. As a result, they struggle to afford to buy water every day. Therefore, we came together as a community to find a solution to ensure water is available to everyone.”

“Although we reported the problem to the relevant officials, they take time to respond. We cannot wait forever for help that doesn’t come. Water is life, and our children and elders need it daily. As a community, whenever something is needed in the village, we contribute R10 per household. And we had already obtained a quotation from Aardvark Sibasa for the pipes.”

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Matenzhe said one pipe costs R265, and the community managed to buy 11 pipes, plus joint sealants.

According to Mudau, when the materials arrived on 12 November, they used the community WhatsApp group to call everyone to help.

“We fixed that pipe last week. After contributing R10, people took initiative, fixed the pipe, and the water started to flow,” Mudau said.

Matenzhe said that for the first time in months, water started to flow consistently.

The councillor added:

The village stores water in a local dam, and since the repair, the main line has been filling it steadily.

“We tried our very best for people to get water,” Mudau said.

According to Gudani Mudzhanana, secretary to the general manager of the Thulamela municipality, the community must first outline their problems and specify the kind of assistance they want from the municipality.

Mudzhanana explained that the municipality would only intervene once a village formally indicates the challenges it faces. In this case, he said, the issue began with a damaged pipe, a problem residents eventually resolved on their own.

“What we can help with is that they have to indicate what they want and how they want the municipality to assist them after they have replaced the pipe,” he said.

“There was a challenge with a pipe, and they fixed the pipe themselves. If they fixed that pipe themselves, that means their problem is solved, so now we have to know what the shortage is at Mushiru village.”

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