Qunu villagers without clean water for two months

The taps have run dry inQunu village, with residents sitting without clean water for months and forced to use “foul-smelling” and “brownish water” from a small nearby stream and dongas. Residents confirmed on Thursday that they had been without potablewaterfor more than two months. Nkosazana Mvemve said the water they were forced to use had a bad taste, which made it unsafe to drink.

“That water [from the stream] is very dark brown when you look at it and, sometimes, we even go to the dongas to get water to wash our clothes,” she said. “What is worse is that it smells weird. It has been raining a lot in the last few weeks and possibly the rains have contributed to making it dirty.” Residents were now also living in fear of falling sick or contracting serious waterborne diseases.

“We were told there is an issue with the water pipes [from the water scheme that supplies the taps with water]. “But in reality, water problems are not a new phenomenon for us though we had a steady supply of water for some time,” Mvemve said. Qunu mother Asakhe Mbambeni said they were extremely worried about the situation, especially since they had young children who had to now drink the dirty water from the stream.

[paywall]

“It just takes longer to clear up because of persistent rainfalls,” she said. “We were told by someone employed as a water operator that there is a problem with an engine on the water scheme that has broken down, but we do not even know if that is true.”

[/paywall]