Phuthaditjhaba used to be the capital of the former bantustan of QwaQwa during apartheid. Today the eastern Free State town, now the seat of the Maluti-a-Phofung local municipality, is a difficult place to navigate. Roads and streets are marked by piles of litter on the sides, huge potholes in the middle and and streams of sewage all over.
A particularly rocky gravel road leads to a sprawl of formal houses and shacks named Mandela Park Extension 2.
Two years ago in this area, seven-year-old Mosa Mbele drowned while fetching water from a local river because taps had gone dry for months. Her drowning led angry Phuthaditjhaba residents to go on a rampage over water shortages.
Although water supply has been restored, residents told Sowetan that taps still run dry on some days without prior notice.
Maluti-a-Phofung is known more for dysfunctionality, unaccountability and mismanagement stretching over a number of years. The ANC control of the council since 1994 came to an end after the last local government elections in November.
Mandela Park Ext 2 residents said intermittent water supply in their area was the result of years of mismanagement but that this was not the only problem they are facing. They complained about poor infrastructure, uncollected refuse and frequent power outages .
Daniel Mosoeunyana, a resident, has for the past three months been filling 20ℓ containers with water running from the tap at his home for emergency use for when the taps run dry.
Mosoeunyana, 45, who lives with his wife and four children, said sometimes they did not have water coming out of their taps for two days in a week.
He said no water tankers had been sent to Mandela Park since 2020 and his family no longer went to the river to fetch water after Mosa’s death.
“I am scared to go to the river after that child died. I have 13 containers and a bathtub to store water. I store [the water] in case we do not have running water at home,” he said.
“I use the water to cook, bathe and for toilet use since I have a flushing toilet. Sometimes we will not have water coming from our taps from the morning until late in the evening. The water supply is restored in the evening when we are sleeping.”
Radinne Motloung, 47, said the unreliable water supply had forced him to harvest rain water.
“When there is no tap water one has to go down on their knees and pray for rain. The municipality should do the right thing and not push us to go on a protest,” said Motloung.
Ramolefi Malefane said their problems were compounded by other infrastructure failures such as poor roads.
“When a person needs medical attention we have to carry them on our backs and walk to the main road. That is where the ambulance will be able to reach us because it cannot enter our area due to the poor roads,” he said.
Residents urged the Maluti-a-Phofung municipality to hold public consultations to address their issues. Mosa’s mother, Phindile Mbele, who moved out of Mandela Park after her daughter’s death, was reluctant to speak to Sowetan.
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