Bushbuckridge – For more than 30 years, Soflina Manibe, used to spend most of her day in a long queue, waiting for her turn to draw water from a stream for cooking and washing.
The 54-year-old, who has five children and makes money by doing piece work, used to walk more than 10km every morning to fetch water from the stream.
“I used to leave the house at 7am and come back at around 1pm due to the long queues at the stream. By the time I came back home I would be too tired to clean and cook,” said Manibe, who lives in an RDP house in Dwaarsloop in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga.
All that has now changed. She has a tap with running water that has been installed outside her house.
Manibe acknowledged the efforts made by government to bring basic services to the area and to people like her.
“Government has done a lot and although there is still more to be done, we understand that government can’t get to everyone at the same time. I am just happy that I am no longer spending the entire day queueing,” she said.
Manibe is one of the community members who was visited at their home by President Jacob Zuma on Friday, during an inspection of basic services being delivered to Bushbuckridge.
The inspections formed part of the Presidential Siyahlola Monitoring Programme and follows an appeal by the community for government to intervene in addressing challenges such as water and sanitation, housing, roads, electricity and refuse removal.
Earlier on Friday, the President visited the R1 billion Inyaka Water Treatment Works in Mandela Village. Construction on the treatment works started in 2001 and the last phase of the project was completed in 2013.
President Zuma also visited a child-headed household, where he interacted with the family members.
He also met with elderly men and women from the community who voiced their appreciation for the services being brought to the area, although they said they could not afford to pay for water. – SAnews.gov.za
