In a tale of two villages, one area has piped water and an air of prosperity, the other has neither.
In the Debe Nek area, Phewuleni village is where spinach and other greens flourish, and Qamdobowa village is where the water is filthy and tankers appear every three weeks instead of days.
The irony is that all the villages in the area have state water infrastructure, but somehow some villages get the water, or more water, than others.
The inconsistency makes people furious.
Villagers of Qamdobowa took the issue to the doorstep of the Bhisho government in 2021, but they came away with nothing more than hot air.
Now they have turned to the SA Human Rights Commission to demand their constitutional rights from the state.
Patriarch Marshall Kanana Xweso, 69, has taken his water and put it to fantastic use.
His veggies are the talk of Phewuleni — passers-by stop and gape in awe at the fertile greenery, and he does good trade on the main road running past his house.
On a good day, the father of five children and grandchildren can earn up to R1,200.
He sells only to villagers and local shops and is regarded as the king of spinach and cabbage in the village.
He started his market garden in 2003, but it really took off when he was linked into the government’s water pipes.
It’s not perfect — sometimes the pipes stop flowing for days or even weeks, and he has to go and find his own water.
But it’s better than having no water at all, like so many of his neighbours.
He said: “I was trying to make ends meet for my family by growing vegetables.
“People started seeing my produce and kept asking if I was selling. When the advise to sell continued, I heeded their advice,” Xweso said.
He does not think it would have happened without the water.
“Life would have been harder for me,” he admits.
“Having water in my garden means I don’t have to travel to fetch it. Except sometimes when the taps go dry. Then I fetch water from the dams.
“Jobs are scarce nowadays and I have been able to send my children to school with the money I make from selling vegetables.”
In water-deprived Qamdobowa village, Noxolo Phandu said the residents struggled to get enough to drink.
He listed other villages where the water supply appeared to be throttled — Zigodlo, Ndindwa, KwaKhulile.
They linked up with residents of Middledrift and in 2022 started writing to the SA Human Rights Commission, pleading for help.
Their supply is from a water tanker.
“Sometimes the truck bring water that is dirty. We still have to drink it.
“When the taps are dry, trucks come but without warning, and the load isn't enough for everyone.
“The municipality sends a water truck once in three weeks.
“I don’t know how they think we drink, bathe and do our laundry all those days in-between.
“The municipality told us it is supposed to come three times a day so that everyone gets sufficient water. That does not happen,” Phandu said.
Their 2021 protest to the government did have one positive, she said.
“After our protest, the pipes in Mxumpu village were fixed and people got water. But we want all the villages to have water.”
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