Expected relief for drought-stricken Jozini communities
uMkhanyakude District Municipality should soon start delivering water to the Mzinyoni community.
THE Mzinyoni community near Jozini should soon experience some drought relief after the SPCA national office struck a deal with the uMkhanyakude District Municipality for extra water delivery.
Following recent publicity of cattle dying in the drying Mzinyoni Dam and community members attempting to draw water and fish from it, SPCA fieldworkers were dispatched to the area, primarily to inspect the situation regarding the animals.
‘When we got there we realised that while cattle were dying in their numbers, the communities also had no alternative water sources,’ said Senior Inspector for the SPCA’s Farm Animal Protection Unit, Nazareth Appalsamy.
‘The dam is a magnet to both people and animals, all of whom are suffering from having no water. It is a death trap.’
The cow that was photographed trapped and dying in the dam was euthanized by the fieldworkers.
Appalsamy approached the uMkhanyakude District Municipality and after a meeting, during which the municipality said they had been unaware of the situation, it was agreed to include the Mzinyoni area on the municipality’s water distribution route.
‘The municipality will distribute water to these communities until such time as the pipeline is complete,’ said Appalsamy.
He has also written to the KZN Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), requesting the release of additional funding to solve the crisis in the area, but is yet to receive a reply.
A fieldworker with the Siyazisiza Trust, which initially brought the Mzinyoni crisis to the Zululand Observer’s attention, said to date no water has been delivered to the area. Spokesperson for uMkhanyakude District Municipality, Mdu Dlamini, confirmed there are water tankers delivering to the entire district, but currently there were not enough tankers available to meet the demand.
The municipality will, in the next few days, publish its district-wide water delivery schedule.
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