PHOLA VILLAGE, Hazyview – Thirty-two years into South Africa’s democratic era, residents of Phola Village say the promise of freedom remains unfulfilled, as water shortages, dilapidated roads, and months-long electricity outages continue to shape their daily existence.
Marking Freedom Day with a mix of celebration and frustration, community members described a reality where basic services are still out of reach. “We don’t have electricity for 5 months,” one resident said. “We are suffering for electricity and we don’t have water – everything we are suffering, but they don’t help us think about anything.”
Another resident added: “Some have attained freedom. Some of us have not received it fully. Roads are in terrible state. I don’t have a house. I registered for an RDP house and I’m still waiting.”
Water remains a luxury, with residents relying on water tankers while roads are neglected. Unemployment was also cited as a crushing burden. “Our children are not working. There’s a huge unemployment rate in our area every day, but we are getting there,” one person said, while another noted: “Where I’m from, we have pavement now. We’re still struggling with water, but we are getting there.”
A resident also raised concerns about voter education, pointing to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). “The complaint about the issue of IEC that they don’t go do proper voter education… If you can remember, only 26 million voted in 2019,” the resident said.
The Mpumalanga government held its official Freedom Day commemoration in Phola. Premier Mandla Ndlovu addressed the gathering, acknowledging service delivery challenges. “We were interacting with the masses of our people that are telling us that they are still yearning for services. Others are telling us that they don’t have houses,” Ndlovu said.
He noted that some residents remain hopeful: “Some of them they are saying to us that even though they don’t have eyes, but they see others getting houses – it means that one day they are going to get their houses. They are saying that they can see that today is better than 32 years ago.”
The premier urged residents to use their democratic power to register and vote in the upcoming local government elections, reaffirming government’s commitment to improve lives through development, unity, and accelerating service delivery.
According to the latest Statistics South Africa General Household Survey, access to piped water remains uneven in rural parts of Mpumalanga, with many villages still dependent on tankers—a detail that mirrors Phola’s ongoing struggle.