The council said access to water in this community is a very big issue, and they appreciate the work done by the organisation in the spring protection project.

The council said they have seen the benefits of the project and believe that it will play an important role in improving the lives of the people.

“Sometimes people collected water in open water sources where water had to be shared with livestock. As a result, there have been cases of waterborne diseases that people have suffered as a result. There are also elderly people who really struggle to collect water from far away. With water being in close proximity to the community, it makes a very big difference.”

They called on the organisation to accommodate other areas in KwaMkhize with water collection points.

“We regard all the areas of KwaMkhize as equal, so whatever the organisation does in one place, it would be nice if it could be duplicated in other community areas as well.”

The council acknowledged that while providing piped water to every household would be optimal, it might not be financially viable.

“Maybe at a later stage when the organisation has done a number of spring projects, they will be in a position to… identify strategic positions where the collection points need to be put across the community.”

The council explained that many KwaMkhize residents, who rely on grants – especially the R350 SRD grant – find it very challenging to support their families.

“If there can be more spring projects where water can be brought very close to people, they will be encouraged to plant their own vegetables because there are people willing to plant vegetables, but without water, it's very difficult. A project of this nature can really do a lot in terms of improving the lives of people.”

The council added that it is important to note that children now have more time to learn because they are not wasting hours of their day to collect water.

The council said it would also appreciate assistance in the grassland area to eradicate the invasive growth of Natalie Bramble, which harms the environment and grazing.

Samson Phakathi, senior community field officer with the EWT/ICF partnership, said their approach is to engage with the communities to identify what their challenges are and if intervention is needed.

Phakathi said the messaging that they take into the community has to resonate with the people for it to succeed.

He said by understanding the livelihoods of the community, they determined that access to water and improving the grazing land for those who keep livestock was key.

“In a situation like this, you have people who have water at their doorstep for the first time in their lives,” said Phakathi.

He said while they have accommodated a lot of people to date, there is still a lot of work that still needs to be done.

“The plan is to accommodate all six communities (within KwaMkhize), but this is informed by the number of beneficiaries because it costs a lot of money to construct a spring in terms of materials and labour,” he said, adding that it is also difficult to work in the rough terrain.

Phakathi said in the Nsongo area at the first spring construction project site we visited, 25% of the wattled cranes are found at any given time in one spot, next to the community.

“That is a very important area for cranes, but we have not spoken about cranes in the community, the reason being, the moment you focus on cranes, you have a situation where the cranes become your cranes, and if they cause crop damage or anything in the community, people will point fingers at you,” he said, adding that some foreigners travel to SA and use a combination of endangered animals and medicinal plants for traditional medicine.