Residents of Cwebeni village in the Eastern Cape are currently forced to rely on donkey carts to transport water for their daily household needs due to the persistent failure of local water infrastructure. The community’s primary communal borehole is frequently broken or dry, leaving inhabitants with no choice but to procure water via private, informal delivery or walk long distances to natural river sources.
Systemic Failures In Municipal Service Delivery
The reliance on donkey carts highlights a broader crisis of water security that continues to affect rural communities across the Eastern Cape. Despite constitutional mandates promising universal access to basic services, local municipalities have been criticised for long-term neglect regarding the maintenance of boreholes and water schemes.
“We have to pay for the water to be brought to us by the donkey cart because the taps are dry and have been for a long time,” a resident of Cwebeni noted anonymously.
Human Rights And Administrative Accountability
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has previously investigated the province’s water struggles, documenting systemic failures across multiple municipalities to uphold water infrastructure standards. These conditions serve as a stark example of the widening gap between government policy and the lived reality of many rural South Africans who remain excluded from reliable, piped water supply.
As state authorities continue to face pressure to address these infrastructure backlogs, the sustainability of informal water solutions remains an urgent concern for public health and community safety.