"Before the elections we were promised water, electricity and schools, but we are still stuck here with nothing"
COMMUNITY members of Bona Bona, a remote rural area near Morokweng in North West, are forced to walk long distances every morning to fill 20-litre buckets with water from a borehole that serves the whole village.
The village has never had clean water, proper sanitation, a 24-hour clinic, electricity or roads and villagers say they have lost hope that things will improve.
They say they are at times forced to drink dirty water, which they share with cattle.
Ambulances do not even bother to serve the area because there are no roads. Instead sledges and wheelbarrows are used to transport patients to the nearest road, where they have to wait hours for transport to take them to hospital.
The community, which falls under Kagisano-Molopo local municipality, said they had previously engaged with mayor Ontlametse Mochware and municipality officials. They were promised that a plan has being put in place to improve the situation.
The locals say the government is doing little to help.
One resident and spokeswoman for the community, Queen Bareki, said they were tired of empty promises.
"Under the old government, after 1994, and under this new government, we are talking and talking about service delivery but there's still none," she said.
Equally angry was Boitumelo Pressis.
"Before the elections they told us we'd get water if we voted. We were promised water, electricity and schools but we are still stuck here with nothing," he said.
Addressing the community yesterday, MEC for local government Paul Sebegoe said they would get five 2000-litre tanks of water that would be continuously filled until the water problem was resolved.
He told Sowetan the matter only came to their attention in June last year. He said they would also repair three boreholes that were broken.
"Increasing the number of boreholes will also assist in providing enough water," he said.
The government would also install a water purification plant next to each borehole to clean up their water, he said.
Sebegoe said the issue of roads, school and electricity was also under consideration.
"We want to see a system of local government that works, delivers and responds directly to the needs of our people in providing basic services," he said.
Anger over poor services
"Before the elections we were promised water, electricity and schools, but we are still stuck here with nothing"
COMMUNITY members of Bona Bona, a remote rural area near Morokweng in North West, are forced to walk long distances every morning to fill 20-litre buckets with water from a borehole that serves the whole village.
The village has never had clean water, proper sanitation, a 24-hour clinic, electricity or roads and villagers say they have lost hope that things will improve.
They say they are at times forced to drink dirty water, which they share with cattle.
Ambulances do not even bother to serve the area because there are no roads. Instead sledges and wheelbarrows are used to transport patients to the nearest road, where they have to wait hours for transport to take them to hospital.
The community, which falls under Kagisano-Molopo local municipality, said they had previously engaged with mayor Ontlametse Mochware and municipality officials. They were promised that a plan has being put in place to improve the situation.
The locals say the government is doing little to help.
One resident and spokeswoman for the community, Queen Bareki, said they were tired of empty promises.
"Under the old government, after 1994, and under this new government, we are talking and talking about service delivery but there's still none," she said.
Equally angry was Boitumelo Pressis.
"Before the elections they told us we'd get water if we voted. We were promised water, electricity and schools but we are still stuck here with nothing," he said.
Addressing the community yesterday, MEC for local government Paul Sebegoe said they would get five 2000-litre tanks of water that would be continuously filled until the water problem was resolved.
He told Sowetan the matter only came to their attention in June last year. He said they would also repair three boreholes that were broken.
"Increasing the number of boreholes will also assist in providing enough water," he said.
The government would also install a water purification plant next to each borehole to clean up their water, he said.
Sebegoe said the issue of roads, school and electricity was also under consideration.
"We want to see a system of local government that works, delivers and responds directly to the needs of our people in providing basic services," he said.
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