If it takes one minute to fill one container with water, and there are 800 people ahead in the queue, then how much longer before Thandi can take her crying baby and set off towards home - two kilometres away?

By Gillian Ayong

This is one question one cant stop reflecting on watching these women and children queuing in the scotching sun, some sitting on rocks, holding empty containers waiting to get water from a government distribution truck in Hlabisa Village in the north-east of KwaZulu-Natal. Scrounging for shade, their eyes remain fixed on the big water truck 500 metres away.

It is water delivery day at Hlabisa, located in Umkhanyakude District, a Presidential Poverty Rural Node in the former KwaZulu homeland. As the crew at the truck fills up the containers of the women in front of the queue, Thandi (24) waits patiently for her turn to get water from the truck. This truck has become the only source of clean water for this village, as the water from the borehole is too dirty to drink.

Poverty still dominates the lives of many in Umkhanyakude, and only a small fraction of the population, about 13% is formally employed. Provision of services like water and sanitation also lags behind. The municipality’s 2010 Integrated Development Plan (IDP) review report shows that over 60% of the households use water from unprotected springs, dams, stagnant, pools and rivers. Over 47% of the households do not have any form of sanitation service. This is despite the fact that the area is not very far from the Pongolapoort Dam, which provides power and water to surrounding districts.

The locals are disgruntled that water from the dam is not benefitting the rest of uMkhanyakude municipality, but is serving as a tourist resort for people who want to relax at the amazing hotel around the dam as well as government officials who have workshops while watching the view.

“Year after year we tell government about the problems we face in this community but they do not want to listen and we still do not have access to clean water,” says Thandi. “We have to walk for hours to get clean water when we suffer from bad roads and electricity too, she adds.”

When local government officials visited them in 2006 under the “Legislature to the People” programme, Thandi and other Hlabisa residents hoped their concerns would be identified and addressed. water, sanitation and electricity topped the residents list of priorities. In its plans, the legislature stipulated the intention to provide electricity for all by 2012.  However, today, people from far flung areas like Hlabisa still do not have electricity and water and still feel that government does not engage with them.
Water Affairs Director-General Pamela Yako blames excess demand for the water problems.

“The water situation in the KwaZulu-Natal coastal metropolitan area is such that the water demand already exceeds the assured supply of water, and the likelihood of water restrictions in the near future is high,” said Yako.

Unless the recent good rainfall pattern continued, the situation could be worse, warned Municipal Water and Sanitation Department head Neil Macleod.

Years ago, the government asked Hlabisa community leaders for permission to plant several hectares of fast growing trees that would be cut down after ten years to make paper, thus alleviating the pressure on indigenous forests. Ten years came and went, and the trees remain, each one robbing the land of 200 - 500 liters of water a day.

droughts have now become regular occcurences in the areas. The hospital must wait for large trucks to come from miles away to refill their water supply. When the water runs out, they must remain without water until it is refilled. Lord help them if there is ever a fire at the hospital. This lack of water supply not only affects how people live, but it also stunts the hospital's functionality as water is needed for the very basic operations of running the laboratory, developing x-rays, and even washing one's hands.

The problems in Hlabisa are relatively common in many areas in KwaZulu-Natal. There is need to address these issues in an innovative manner in order to initiate and promote sustainable development. This would result in improved economic growth coupled with accelerating inward investment thereby, creating job and other socio-economic opportunities.

Gillian Ayong is the Regional Manager for Governance and Development at Panos Institute Southern Africa. To share your thoughts on this article and related issues, please email her on ameck@panos.org.za