Villagers at Mateke in the Kavango East Region need potable water.

The villagers claim that their lives are at risk due to human-wildlife conflict. 

The villagers say they walk about five kilometres to fetch water and are prone to being attacked by crocodiles.

According to the villagers in 2018, Mudiro, an NGO, connected water pipes for them from the NamWater reservoir at Andara, but they experienced low water pressure due to the small size of the pipes.

The project only lasted for six months, leaving the villagers with unfunctional taps in their homesteads. 

The dry taps also affected the villager's backyard gardens.

Contacted for comment, the Councillor of Mukwe Constituency, Damian Maghambayi, said measures have been put in place to solve the issue. 

"What we have done so far is because we were also requested by the Directorate of Rural Water Supply in the Ministry of Agricultural, Water, and Land Reform to indicate villages that are prone to crocodile attacks and the issue of human-wildlife conflict, so Mateke is one of them; it's on number 18 on the list. We have about 87 villages that we have submitted to the ministry. Some bill they already got boreholes, drilling took place, and just a matter of time that Mateke is also going to be drilled with a new borehole."

Maghambayi called on the villagers of Mateke to be patient.