Community members of Wonderkop in Marikana collect water from a nearby water tank. There is a lack of service delivery in the area. Picture: Itumeleng English Independent Newspapers
MARIKANA, a town notorious for the massacre of mineworkers that took place there over a decade ago, is still struggling with little in the way of service delivery.
Wonderkop, in Marikana, near Rustenburg, still suffers from air pollution, and its residents have been battling with water outages for months.
According to residents, certain sections of Wonderkop have not had water since last year. Residents told The Star that they use vehicles to access and transport water every day in 5-litre containers. Those who don’t have cars to transport the water use wheelbarrows and carry bottles of water.
The water is accessible via a JoJo tank. In addition, the water is supplied by the Sibanye-Stillwater mine.
“We haven't had water since last year. We are living in poverty in terms of water, because we can’t do anything, from cooking and bathing, to other daily chores that require water,” said Zanele Lubisi, one of Wonderkop’s residents.
Lubisi said community members had tried to talk to the municipality and its local councillor, but their cries have been in vain, and there is no solution to the water outages in sight.
“We talked to government officials from the local municipality, but they have done nothing till today. The municipality said there was no pipe to connect the water to our section,” she said.
Lubisi added that Wonderkop had not had infrastructure development since 2004, from quality roads to housing and sanitation.
“We don’t have roads here. When it rains we can’t go to town, but we are forced to wear boots as roads get muddy,” she said.
There are no sanitary functioning toilets, to the extent that the town drowns in sewage, which is hazardous to their health and the environment.
The Star called and messaged the Rustenburg’s mayor’s office as well as the Bojanala Platinum District Municipality mayor, Matlakala Nondzaba, but neither party replied nor answered the calls.
The Star
Hope Mafu
hope.mafu@inl.co.za