“It was a long time coming.” These were the words of DA ward councilor, Sybrandt de Beer, who spoke ahead of the community protest in Gravellotte on Wednesday afternoon, the 31st of August.
The community of Gravellotte barricaded the R532 and R71 intersection leading to both Hoedspruit and Phalaborwa with rocks and tree branches on Wednesday morning, stating that they were sidelined by the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality and the mines surrounding it.
The residents protested against the shortage of water in their area and that they were only sent a water tanker which according to them, is not sufficient to serve the entire community. Their other concern was that the local mines in the municipality do not employ them.
The water scarcity in the Ba-Phalaborwa municipality is nowhere near an end as cries for water keep falling on deaf ears. It is no wonder that the residents of Gravellotte said that they refuse to speak to the mayor of the municipality, but want the district mayor, Pule Shayi, to address them.
Ba-Phalaborwa has not had water for close on two months and for four months, they have been struggling without any assistance from the municipality. This has led to continuous protests and the blocking of provincial roads.
Sybrandt de Beer said that he has since started a petition which he will be handing over in parliament and not to the council in the municipality, because they have never had answers.
Fortunately for some residents in Phalaborwa town, they have had running water for the last five days, this is for the first time in five weeks. De Beer told Bulletin that the water team normally take about 15 days to tend to a leaking pipe and that was partly why the situation escalated.
The Mopani District Mayor, Pule Shayi, met with the community of Gravellotte on Wednesday evening and after his meeting, the roads were once again opened to traffic. At the time of going to print, Bulletin was still awaiting an outcome report from the spokesperson of the district, Odas Ngobeni. The mute liaison from the BPM, Jonas Maheshu, remains silent.
