Arthur Greene
Emerging farmers at Dzindi Tshivhuyuni Block outside Thohoyandou are fuming.
The farmers, most of whom did not receive their Covid-19 grants, were dealt a second blow when the Vhembe District Municipality’s technical team damaged the main water supply pipe to the reservoir.
The community has been without water for a week now and the municipality doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it.
Thihanedzwi Dzivhani, one of the affected farmers, said he lost vegetables that he planted last week when the water supply was cut.
He said they were in the process of rebuilding their businesses after the floods when this happened.
“We were promised the water would be running by Monday but nothing has happened so far,” he said.
“This is a final blow to us. We don’t have money and we took loans to get started. We don’t know where to go from here.”
Samuel Ndaba is a worker at one of the plots.
He said they planted cabbages a few days ago hoping to make up for lost time as a result of the recent floods.
“We have waited for water since Monday in the scorching heat. We have already lost a great deal as our cabbages are drying up. The sooner they repair the main supply pipe the better,” he said.
Asked why it was taking so long to repair the damaged pipe, Vhembe District Municipality spokesperson Moss Shivambu said he was not aware of the damage.
“We will enquire from the technical teams and it will definitely be fixed as a matter of urgency,” he said.
