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The constituency stretches from Sun-Yet-Sen past Tshelanyemba to Brunapeg up to Mpoengs along the border with Botswana.
As the popular saying goes “adjust or die”, people in the area have adjusted to the heat as they received below average rainfall this year, as is always the case yearly. Some constituents have to travel long distances of up to 20km in the sapping heat to the nearest water source as most boreholes have dried up.
Many have resorted to drinking water from unprotected sources; with others having no choice but to share the little they collect with livestock.
Villagers in Mponyane raised serious concerns over the water problem, as some of them have to walk many kilometres to the nearest water source.
Mr Nkosinathi Bhebhe said the borehole in the area had run dry as most villages used to collect water from it.
“The borehole that was left in this area has now run dry as most of the boreholes we used to draw water from were not functioning.
“Some people have to walk many kilometres to fetch water, worse for the elderly who have no one to fetch it for them as they rely on other villages to bring them some to drink,” he said.
Livestock in this area is suffering. The animals also have to travel long distances for drinking water as people are failing to bring drinking water for them. Grazing land is depleting fast, leaving some villages wondering what will happen to their livestock as the year is not even half way. Some villages in the area have resorted to taking their livestock as far as Figtree where there are pastures.
Mr Bhebhe said livestock in the area have not been spared as grazing areas have been wiped out by the persistent dry spell and have to pay for grazing land in the areas they find for their cattle.
“Our livestock have nowhere to graze; some villages have set on a journey to find grazing land for their cattle to as far as Figtree and Matopo.
“This shows suffering in this area as they have to pay for grazing in those areas and also pay the person who will be looking after their cattle. Others have however, resorted to selling livestock to butcheries so that they do not die of hunger,” he said.
After bidding farewell to villagers in Mponyane our journey took us to Nhlupho village in Ward 8, which is about 15km away.
There the crew met villagers who were grateful to their MP for building a classroom block in the area, which was completed at the beginning of the year.
However, they said they have not seen their MP ever since and the classroom is the only positive development that he has done so far in his four years of office.
The local headman, Mr Abraham Nyathi, sitting under a leafless Mopani tree at Nhlupho Township with other members of the community, regretted electing Mr Ndebele as the MP saying he had done nothing of substance in the area.
“Yes, we choose the MP but there is nothing that we see from him as our community continues to suffer. He should be representing us in Government, but it seems he is not doing his job properly.
“We acknowledge that he built a classroom block at the school but look, there is no clinic in this area and because of that, people have to travel over 25 km to the nearest clinic which is in Tshelanyemba or a further 20km to St Josephs. It seems as if we have been denied medical attention as some people end up dying because there is no proper medical facility nearby,” he said.
The Basic Education Assistance Module (Beam) chairman in the area Mr Only Ncube who was also with the headman said parents were still facing difficulties in accessing school fees for their children.
“Some children are not going to school because their parents do not have the required school fees to pay for their children. The Beam programme has reduced the number of children it pays fees for as a result some children do not benefit.
“Schools in this area are operating without sufficient teachers as those who are there are being paid incentives by parents who do not have any means of an income. Material at schools like textbooks is not available to children. We once heard that the Ministry of Education was providing books to some schools in the country but schools in this area received nothing,” he said.
Food shortage has also hit this area as it received little rainfall with some of their crops being a write off.
On our way to Tshelanyemba we met Gogo MaHadebe who said she did not harvest anything this year as all her crops were destroyed by the dry spell.
She said the situation was the same last year and described the area as a desert.
“Lonyaka akulazulu sisenkangala, izilimo zonke zatsha (there is no rain this year. We are in a desert; all our crops are a write off)
“We only receive food from the grain loan that the Government provides but this is not enough as just a few people benefit from this. Every time they deliver a few people are called from the five villages in this ward and the rest have to wait for their turn to receive this precious commodity.
“As we speak some people have not yet received anything from this grain loan scheme as they are still waiting for their turn,” she said.
Concerted efforts to contact the MP were fruitless as his phone was unreachable the whole day yesterday.
Online Reporter