Mohokare spokesperson, Lehlohonolo Mafatman, labelled the issue - which was raised by members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) during the sitting at Lere La Thuto Secondary School on 19 March - as nothing more than a “fallacy”. This is despite information alleging the contrary. Mafatman says the municipality experienced issues with water levels at its reservoirs due to load-shedding – water pumps are often powered by electricity. As a result, high lying areas in Zastron were adversely affected. This temporary inconvenience was offset by the refilling of water tankers at the school in question. He says within hours, the water supply in Zastron was normal and remains so.

Most recently, the manager of the South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC) in the Free State, Thabang Kheswa, told OFM News that a number of municipalities in the province are in a “bad shape” and require urgent intervention from a water provision perspective. Kheswa called for greater collaboration in resolving various Free State municipalities’ failure to provide residents with safe drinking water. Kheswa made specific mention of Maluti-A-Phofung in the Eastern Free State and Mangaung Metro as municipalities facing serious service delivery challenges.

DOCTORAL RESEARCH ON THE EASTERN FREE STATE WATER CRISIS

In late 2020, OFM News interviewed the University of the Free State (UFS) lecturer, Kgosi Mocwagae, on his years-long doctoral research probing the ongoing water crisis in the academic’s home area of Qwaqwa. Mocwagae said that he sought to track the history of the water crisis, to document the lived experiences of the community and to identify the actors that have intervened in the crisis. 

According to the United Nations’ guidelines on water access, an adult needs between 50 and 100 litres of water to meet their basic needs, the water source has to be within 1 km of their home and collection time should not exceed 30 minutes. Mocwagae shares how 581 Qwaqwa households fared in his research from a water access perspective.

"When we actually look at the household sizes versus the amount of water they’re able to collect, this was below the minimum amount of water they had to get access to. The time spent on a daily basis was beyond the 30 minutes stipulated as a maximum. And, they travelled more than a kilometre a day to access water,” explains Mocwagae. In light of how mountainous Qwaqwa is, he stresses that this must be especially difficult for the elderly.

The Urban and Regional Planning lecturer observed gross inequalities in Qwaqwa as a young boy, simply by playing with his friends in the area. He relates that even though his family had access to running water, and a geyser in their home, he noticed from early on that his friends - who lived a mere five minutes away - weren’t as fortunate. They would be “sent to go collect water using a wheelbarrow with water containers”, a memory that remained with him when the water crisis gained media traction in 2016.

The Tugela-, Caledon- and Eland Rivers all originate from the Mont-Aux-Sources Mountain which is located in Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State – specifically Qwaqwa. These rivers flow into the Indian Ocean, the Orange River and the Wilge River, into the Vaal Dam - an indication that Qwaqwa forms part of the country’s water source. Despite this, the area still struggles with access to water. Mocwagae tracked the history of water provision in Qwaqwa, beginning in the 1970s, to determine why these challenges prevail.

OFM News