Man uses part of RAF payout to bring water to his village

Seeing just how his community was struggling to walk 5km to get water from a stream, a Mpumalanga man decided to use his Road Accident Fund (RAF) payout to provide them with water supply in their homes.

Mlungisi Majazi Maseko, 41, from Mooiplaas village in the Chief Albert Luthuli local municipality said he used R1.3m from his RAF payout to buy water tanks, pipes and other equipment for the project.

Meanwhile it has emerged that the municipality wasted R47.8m in the last five years. 

About 105 households which have been suffering for 15 years now see Maseko as a hero as he has been able to bring a service the municipality has failed to give them for years.

Maseko said he was on his way home from work when he was involved in an accident in 2018 and the RAF later paid out the claim.

Maseko said before the crash, he was employed as a scaffolder.

"After leaving my job, I dug my own borehole to water my two hectares of farming land. Seeing the community I grew up in suffering and old people carrying water buckets for 5km, I held a meeting with them and told them about the plan to draw water from the stream to their households," he said.

"But they said they didn't have money. I then decided to hire some unemployed young men to install the water infrastructure I had paid for from my pocket ... as we speak, 105 households now have water and that brings so much joy to my heart."

He said the stream where they get water from is at the top of a mountain while their houses are at the bottom, which makes it easier to channel water to the community.

"I'm not rich and I survive through farming. After the water project was completed, I gave some land to some community members who are interested in farming and people can now feed their families. We no longer struggle for water." 

Maseko said when his stepfather died, he wanted to quit school and seek employment but there were men and women in the community who financed him and ensured that he was well taken care of and encouraged him to go to school.

He said providing water to the community was his way of thanking the elders that took care of him. 

Community members said had it not been for Maseko, they would still be walking 5km to get water.

Resident Zodwa Mkhonto-Mazibuko said the community was blessed to have Maseko in their midst.

"We saw him growing up and when he was working he was not spending much time here. When he lost his job [after the accident] he used his own money to help us and didn't live an extravagant life but felt he needed to help his community with the water problem which has always been there even when he was still young.

"We wish government could recognise him or maybe compensate him for what he did because at the end of the day it's their job to provide us with water. It is something we voted them for. Now I'm no longer walking to fetch water but open my tap inside the yard," said Mkhonto-Mazibuko.

Another villager, Nkosinathi Msibi, who got a part-time job during the project, said he was happy that he was able to make some money. "When Mr Maseko approached us to work on installing water pipes, I was very happy because drawing water from the stream had become our way of life. He offered to pay us and would even buy us lunch each day.

"Now, I'm always on standby to fix any damage or look if there's any problem with the pipes so that we can go fix them," said Msibi. 

Municipal spokesperson Thapelo Phetla said: "As the Chief Albert Luthuli local municipality and the department of water and sanitation, it's our mandate to provide clean water. At the end of the current financial year, we shall be done with the upgrading of the water treatment works which will cover the whole community of Mooiplaas, not only the new stands.

"In the meantime, we have built a borehole and installed water tanks to temporarily provide water. We have also been in contact with the community member who provided the community with water on working together going forward," said Phetla. 

SowetanLIVE