Residents with dry taps not amused with contractor

A contractor in a multi-million rand water reticulation project in the North West convinced residents to sign forms confirming they had water while their taps were dry.

The contractor‚ Mothakge Phadima Construction‚ required the forms as proof of how many residents had been connected.

The form states that residents of Mmakaunyane “benefited … from the project and (were) satisfied with water installation” except that the taps have been dry since being installed in August.

Community leader and PR councillor Shangy Mbekwa said the contractor had gathered more than 1‚000 signed forms by the time they were intercepted and confiscated.

“We also stopped the contractor from removing his equipment and shipment containers because they are not done (finished). More than R8-million has been spent but we still do not have water.”

The North West province has spent about R52-million on water projects in the municipality but clean drinking water remains a luxury for some residents.

Johannes Sithole‚ 72‚ said he was tired of waiting and had ripped out his tap and put it in his house.

“I know there will be no water coming out of that tap‚ so what is a point of having a tap. I will reinstall it when water comes out‚” he said.

Project manager Percy Mmadi admitted that some homes did not have water but said these were very few‚ about 15% of the total. He said they were waiting for Eskom to electrify three more borehole pumps to supply water to everybody.

“All those yards are supplied by one pump and pressure is not enough to reach everybody but once Eskom connects the boreholes‚ everyone will have water‚” said Mmadi.

He said the whole area had relied on one borehole.

Resident Peter Mathebula‚ 64‚ said he thought he was signing confirmation that the contractor had installed a tap but not that they had water.

"When I was made aware by other residents that we were confirming that we had water‚ I was angry because I did not have water‚" he said.