Police used stun grenades and rubber bullets on Monday to disperse residents of Unit 15 in Mmabatho, Mahikeng who had taken to the streets, blockading roads in a desperate protest over a five-day-long water outage that has crippled the community.
The protest, sparked by growing frustration with the local municipality, saw residents demand immediate action to restore their water supply. The situation escalated when law enforcement moved in to clear the blockades, leading to a tense confrontation.
“The community is frustrated,” said one resident, highlighting the severe impact of the crisis. “I have medication here with me. I cannot even drink it. I cannot even swallow it.” The resident also described the unsanitary conditions, stating, “We have polluted houses because we cannot even flush our toilets.”
Anger was also directed at the police response, with one protester alleging an officer gave an instruction to “shoot these dogs,” a comment that further inflamed tensions.
Local leadership placed the blame squarely on the municipal authorities. A councillor identified as the water councillor expressed deep frustration, confirming the community has been without water since Thursday.
“Yesterday we were trying to be civil as the community so that we resolve the issue of the water. Now the municipality failed this community decimal,” the councillor said. “We need a solution now.”
However, the Mahikeng Local Municipality offered a different account of the crisis. In a statement, a municipal representative claimed the prolonged outage was caused by repeated tampering with water valves, accusing unknown individuals of sabotaging repair efforts.
“We are trying to come up with a temporary solution, but the community is stopping us,” the representative said. “We open the valves, somebody closes the valves. We open, they close. We open, they close. So we don’t know what the intention is.”
The municipality issued a sincere apology to the affected residents of Wards 2, 13, 14, and 15 and stated that it has roped in the assistance of Magalies Water and the Department of Local Government to resolve the matter.
Despite these assurances, residents have vowed to continue their protests until their taps are flowing again, signaling that a resolution is urgently needed to prevent further unrest.
