MBIKWAKHE – Since June, a muddy stream has been Mbikwakhe’s main source of drinking water.
More than 300 residents of this peri-urban community under the Kwaluseni inkhundla are drinking water from the Lutsantsama stream after a borehole pump failed and the borehole water was declared unsafe.
Residents of zones A and B and part of zone C said they had been without tap water for almost three months and were appealing for help.
Mbikwakhe is home to more than 5 000 people, most of them outsiders, a resident said. Residents of the four zones make up almost half that number. Those affected include locals and workers employed at nearby Matsapha textile factories and other companies.
Pictures taken by this publication show where they now collect it. The stream runs beneath thick undergrowth, and two pipes discharge into a shallow, muddy pool.
To reach the water pipes, residents are forced to wade into the pool and hold their containers beneath them. This is quicker than scooping water from the stream with a jar or small container.
Footprints around the water collection point indicated that the Lutsantsama stream had become a hive of activity as residents flocked there.
On the day of the visit, a 14-year-old boy in a yellow raincoat stood in the pool filling a 25-litre water container, while a second container waited on the bank. The water was brown, with leaves and plastic debris in the pool and along its edge.
Litter also surrounded the water point. Plastic bags, snack wrappers and other packaging were strewn across the banks and wet grass, with some caught in the undergrowth.
The stream is exposed to litter, mud and surface runoff. When asked, the boy confirmed that most affected residents stood in the water while collecting it.
Asked whether his family boiled or chlorinated the water before drinking it, the boy, who lives with both his grandparents, said they rarely did.
Meanwhile, a borehole beside Mbikwakhe Alliance Church is said to have supplied four zones: A, B, C and D.
A local resident shared this account of the situation facing more than 300 people, but asked not to be named for fear of victimisation.
According to the resident, community water was pumped uphill to an area commonly known as Hillside, which separates Sicelwini and Makholweni from Ndzevane and Mbikwakhe.
A concrete tank built at the top many years ago then supplied households below. The hill also hosts similar tanks, network providers’ equipment and other key national infrastructure.
Explaining how the community water project started decades ago, the resident said the system initially used communal taps, with each household in the four zones paying E25 a month.
The taps were later dismantled after each household applied for its own connection and the charge changed. It could not be established how much each family now pays.
Residents said they reported the pump fault to their Member of Parliament (MP), Sifiso Shongwe, who promised to fix it. However, they said nothing had been done.
“The MP has been avoiding us lately and we suspect they want to bring in the Eswatini Water Services Corporation (EWSC) instead of fixing the borehole pump,” the resident said.
Meanwhile, Shongwe denied doing nothing to resolve the issue. He acknowledged its seriousness and said the pump had developed mechanical problems. He added that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy had declared the borehole water unclean and unsafe for consumption.
Shongwe said repairs cost E34 000 when the pump first failed. He said he paid almost half from his own pocket, while the community was expected to cover the balance.
Following a positive response from the community, Shongwe said the pump was removed, repaired and reinstalled. However, it failed again because of electrical faults despite efforts to restore it. He said he was working with the community water committee, chaired by Siphicile Mncina, to repair it and contain the situation.
Shongwe said the situation should be declared a disaster because the water project had been declared unsafe, yet the ministry had offered no solution. He said he had approached several organisations and struck deals with businesses to supply safer water by bowser at least twice a week.
He said the aim was to provide safe drinking water, while stream water would be used for laundry. “For the long term, we are working with World Vision and EWSC to assist us. World Vision promised to roll out a water project by the end of October, to the tune of E8 million, following a launch held at Mbikwakhe Umphakatsi,” he said.
He said he wrote to the National Disaster Risk Management Authority (NDRMA), seeking clarity on the closure of the community water source and requesting assistance.
He said the water was deemed unsafe because waste from several pit latrines built nearby seeped into underground water sources.
He said he also approached the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, arguing that the ministry could not declare the water unsafe and leave residents without a temporary alternative.
Seepage from the pit latrines was described as contributing to a risk of faecal contamination that threatened drinking water.
Mncina declined to comment, saying the matter was being handled by the relevant authorities.
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