Residents of Mncitsini in the Maseyisini constituency risk their lives and illegally cross a border line, separating Swaziland from South Africa, to draw water from a South African dam.

Due to the scarcity of water at Mncitsini, residents are left with no other option, but to walk about 2 km to get water for their survival from the South African dam. It is said there are about 200 homesteads in the area that rely on the water from the South African dam.

The Minister for Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Mduduzi Dlamini, is the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Maseyisini constituency. A resident, Ntombikayise Myeni (41) said they normally cross into South Africa four times a day to draw water using 20 and 25 litre containers. She said they use the water for domestic purposes like cooking, washing and drinking. Myeni said they share the water with livestock and they use water purifiers to clean it.

She said she was born and bred in the area and had been ‘stealing’ water from the dam all her life.
According to Myeni, at times they encountered problems while walking to and from the dam as soldiers mistake them for smugglers, rustlers or border jumpers.

“The situation has been like this for years now. We have been nursing hopes that the people we elect into Parliament will assist us by installing boreholes. The situation is even worse during winter as there are no rains and we all have to illegally cross into South Africa for water which is not even clean. We first monitor the situation along the cordon line checking if the local soldiers are within the vicinity or not,” she explained.

Source: times.co.za