Trenches have been dug, pipes laid, taps installed, nine boreholes drilled and more than R150 million spent, but there’s still no water coming out of the taps. Now communities in the Lephepane area near Tzaneen have given the ANC-led government an ultimatum – provide water before December or they will vote for opposition parties in the upcoming local government elections.
This is the view of the majority of residents in the far-flung villages of Lephepane, Rasebalane, Khop and surrounding farming settlements outside Tzaneen that fall under the Mopani district municipality of Limpopo.
Ahead of the 2026 local government elections, community representative Black Letsoalo said it is services or no votes.
‘Duplication of failed services’
Letsoalo said it is concerning that a bulk water project – that cost the municipality R44 million – has just been completed, but failed to failed to provide water to the community of Lephepane. Now there are plans for the same council to bring another R41 million bulk water project.
“This is a duplication of failed services and a wasteful and fruitless expenditure. Where is all this money going to when we do not have a single drop of water?” he asked angrily.
“We have voted for the ANC each time there were elections – be it local government elections, national elections, project steering committees or school governing bodies. We believed in the party to change our lives for the better – at least during the Nelson Mandela and former president Thabo Mbeki’s time. But now we have lost confidence in the party and its boring leadership,” said Letsoalo, who is also a well-known businessman in the area.
“How do we vote for the ANC when we continue to drink water from the same source as donkeys, monkeys, goats, cats, frogs and cattle. How do we continue to believe in the ANC when government projects are not only awarded to their political juntas, friends and concubines, but also to foreign nationals instead of to those who qualify? How do we continue to vote for the ANC when its leaders look down on the underprivileged?
“This should be a wake-up call to the ANC. We cannot face another Christmas without water. We are giving the Mopani district municipality until December to bring fresh drinkable, running tap water to our villages or the party must just kiss our votes goodbye at the polls next year,” said Letsoalo.
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Ward 34 independent councillor Erick Ralepelle said water provision was the biggest problem faced by communities in the area.
“It is true there are many pipes dug underground. It is also true our taps are dry.
“But since I took over as a councillor, there is water in Kop, Manamela, Maphoofolo and Maunatlala villages. This after contractors appointed in the 2023/24 financial year successfully completed the projects and ensured there is water coming out of the taps,” Ralepelle told The Citizen.
Municipality vows to fix water shortages
Spokesperson for the Mopani district municipality, Odas Ngobeni said the Lephephane Water Reticulation project is progressing.
He said it will also target Longvalley, while the water shortages in Ward 34 will soon be a thing of the past.
“We are committed as a water service authority, and a municipality that has the interests of all its people at heart to change their lives for the better because we know that water is life and sanitation is dignity,” said Ngobeni.
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