LIMPOPO, SOUTH AFRICA — Residents of Ha-Matsa near Louis Trichardt have raised their own funds to pipe untreated spring water into the village, saying state projects to bring clean, treated supplies remain years behind schedule.
Nearly 5,000 people live in the cluster of villages, which rely on a single municipal borehole and two reservoirs that take up to five days to fill. Most household wells have run dry.
“Even though we can get sick from sharing water with animals, we don’t have a choice,” said Constance Khakhu, whose private borehole dried up after four years.
Some villagers walk more than 2 km to buy water, paying R3–R5 (about £0.15–£0.25) for 20 litres. Others hire donkey carts or pay R1,200 (£50) for a 2,400-litre truck delivery.
Frustrated by delays, the community collected R12,000 (c £500) — roughly R50 per household — to buy plastic piping. Unemployed youths laid the network, linking a mountain spring to apartheid-era communal taps. The gravity-fed system, now three years old, was recently upgraded with wider pipes to improve pressure, but frequent bursts demand constant repairs.
“We’re asking for donations so we can buy stronger pipes and extend the system,” said coordinator Khathutshelo Matsa.
Villagers have built a stone wall at the spring to filter debris and plan to fence the source to keep animals away, but say repeated appeals for municipal help have gone unanswered.
Vhembe District Municipality spokesperson Matodzi Ralushai said Ha-Matsa is on the authority’s “medium-term” list for new boreholes this financial year. The settlement should also benefit from Phase 4 of the R664-million Mutshedzi Water Treatment Plant, now rescheduled to finish on 30 August 2024 after delays caused by budget approvals, material shortages and recent heavy rains.
In the meantime, water tankers are being dispatched and an extra borehole in nearby Manyii is planned, though cable theft and vandalism have stalled the scheme.
Traditional leader Khosi Vho Philemon Matsa said the community feels abandoned: “Our people are risking their health because their pleas for help have been ignored.”
