Melanie Alperstein Reflects on Batandwa Ndondo and the Manzimahle Spring Protection Project

This video features Melanie Alperstein, a member of the Health Care Trust (HCT), reflecting on the organization's work in the Cala district during the 1980s and on Batandwa Ndondo’s pivotal role in the project.

The HCT, a Cape Town-based collective of progressive health workers, initiated a Village Health Worker (VHW) programme in Transkei that sought to link health care to broader struggles for justice, equality and self-reliance. In Manzimahle, spring protection was one aspect of a broader effort to improve health and livelihoods by ensuring access to clean water for households and enabling villagers to grow their own food.

Batandwa’s involvement as the coordinator reflected his deep belief that true development must come from below. His leadership connected health, water and community organization—an approach that still resonates in our current water campaign and broader efforts to democratize local governance.

Melanie’s reflections remind us that the struggle for water justice is not new—it is part of a longer history of community-driven action in Sakhisizwe.

Watch the full video below and join the conversation on how we can build on Batandwa’s legacy of grassroots development and self-reliance.