In Syferbuilt informal settlement in Rustenburg, in the North West, residents spend up to half their monthly income buying water to avoid getting sick.
The informal settlement, close to the town of Boons and within the same municipality as Sun City's Valley of the Waves, is one of several communities without safe drinking water.
Those who can afford buy water but many others have no choice but to use the contaminated water which they claim makes them sick.
SICKLY: Ellen Mashaba says two-year-old Promise has had a runny tummy for several weeks. She blames the diarrhoea on the contaminated water they drink in the Syferbult informal settlement in Rustenburg. picture: DAYLIN PAUL
Activists blame corruption and the local government for failing to provide necessary infrastructure.
Residents are now relying on a local farmer for clean water.
The Rustenburg local municipality provides water tankers, but these often do not arrive for days. Recently charitable organisations started bringing water to locals.
Josephine Madlalisa survives on R900 a month from child grants. She spends R500 buying water. She supports 13 children and grandchildren.
Jan Makwe claimed he spends more than R100 on water from his R700 monthly income.
They claimed the water makes them sick. Three months ago Makwe's son washospitalised for three weeks because of diarrhoea.
"The doctor said we must cook [boil] the water," Makwe said.
Bosa Ledwaba, an independent councillor and a member of the Forum for Service Delivery, said in the Rustenburg area alone there were seven wards without water. Most of them were in informal settlements, she said.
"What really annoys me is that one of these informal settlements is surrounded by mines and they have water," Ledwaba said.
She blamed the problem on the corruption in awarding tenders: "We are trying to engage the mayor to try to sort out this problem."
The provincial government referred questions to local government authorities. Attempts to contact Rustenburg municipal officials were unsuccessful.
In Syferbult in the past decade two contractors were commissioned to provide water infrastructure. The last contractor built two tanks which were supposed to be handed over to the community last week.
That never happened. The residents had tapped water for just 45 minutes before the taps ran dry. Councillor Hendrick Tsienyane said he did not know why the project had not been completed.
He said the challenge of bringing water to Syferbult and otherinformal settlements in the province was that they had to be recognised first as townships and that this was a drawn-out process.
Because of persistent water problems, residents of Syferbult are now planning protests. One plan is to block the R509, the main road that leads to the Botswana border. But it is a dangerous plan.
"The problem is that people might start throwing stones and that will be bad," said Makwe.
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