The Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) premier candidate for the Northern Cape province, Andrew Louw, on Saturday 16 February 2019 led a legal and peaceful march in Kathu to protest about the ongoing water crisis experienced in the municipal area.
The party wanted to hand over a petition with over 1000 signatures calling for an urgent intervention into the debilitating water situation experienced in Gamagara,
to the mayor or his representative, however, although the march had been organised well in advance, the conveners of the march were informed only a day before that the mayor of Gamagara Edwin Hantise and the speaker Dineo Moyo would not be available.
Addressing the supporters, Mr Louw said that the DA had come to Kathu following a cry of distress about the alarming water crisis being experienced and to hold the failing ANC government accountable. He said that it was common knowledge that the municipality owed Sedibeng Water millions of rands and that financial mismanagement and abuse of municipal funds had played a big role in causing this tragedy. He said that the DA would never accept this violation of a person’s basic human right to water, though. He added that the DA had referred this matter to the South African Human Rights Commission and gave the supporters the assurance that the DA would continue to do whatever it takes to get their voices heard and to get proper help to restore basic services. He said that it was a shame that the mayor and his councillors were absent and that it indicated that they did not care about the people of Gamagara and were to blame for the deteriorating water situation in the region. He said that he wanted to remind the ANC councillors that their salaries were being paid by the residents of Gamagara
In an interview with Mr Louw, the Kathu Gazette’s reporter Devine Rooi, mentioned to Mr Louw that due to the atrocious situation regarding the non-availability of water, the Maikaelelo Primary School is not able to provide learners with meals as is required by the Department of Education. To some of those learners, those meals are the only ones they receive. The learners and staff are also not able to use the toilet facilities and the situation is so bad, that that the ablution facilities had to be locked up due to the extremely unhygienic conditions. As a result, the schools have to close earlier than scheduled. Mr Rooi also mentioned to Mr Louw that the school had a borehole and that Jojo tanks had been installed, but that the borehole was not operational.
Mr Louw replied that the DA was going to allow the Gamagara municipality 14 days to respond to the outcry by the community as well as the petition which would be sent electronically. After the 14 days, the DA would call on legal advice to determine the next step, even if it meant taking the municipality to court.
Meanwhile representatives from the Gamagara municipality, including the mayor Edwin Hantise, the municipal manager Protea Leserwane, die speaker Dineo Moyo,
the technical manager Kagiso Ositang the financial manager Moses Grond and the acting director of development and town planning Henry Horniet as well as the two ANC councillors from Olifantshoek Monica Orpen en Boitumelo Lekgadi and the two DA councillors from Olifantshoek Annah Morwe and Joseph Esau, met with the residents of Olifantshoek on 13 February 2019 at the Ditloung community centre in Olifantshoek.
The residents conveyed their dissatisfaction to the councillors in no uncertain terms. They mentioned numerous problems being experienced due to the non-availability of water, eg the clinic not being able to assist patients, and how the Gamagara Call Centre offered no assistance or help to any of these water related problems.
In response the mayor Mr Hantise explained that the problem had been ongoing for the last three years with water being available only intermittently. He said that the municipality had been in talks with stakeholders about the severity of the water problem. They have even drafted business plans to get these stakeholders on board to render assistance, due to the fact that the municipality has a financial crisis.
He emphasised that Sedibeng Water also had a problem with pressure at certain plants at Delportshoop which impacted on the storage of water in the reservoirs, but that boreholes would be implemented and finally installed by the end of May 2019.
Meanwhile, the Kathu Gazette had approached Sedibeng Water for comment about the Vaal Gamagara Water Supply Scheme project, which includes the refurbishment of the existing Vaal Gamagara water treatment plant near Delportshoop, the upgrade of pump stations and the construction of a 430 km long pipeline to run from Delportshoop to Black Rock (phase 1). This project was launched in 2016 by the then Minister of Water and Sanitation Nomvula Mokonyane, but nowhere was Olifantshoek mentioned in this project.
The interim CEO, Mpheteng Mokubung, replied explaining that Olifantshoek is supplied with water from the Vaal Gamagara Water Supply Scheme via the pipeline connected at the N14 cross (Roscoe), but that the pipeline from the N14 cross leading to Olifantshoek would only be executed during future phases.
Presently, the demand for water from the Vaal Gamagara Water Supply Scheme has exceeded the availability. Any additional water cannot be accommodated due to the aged infrastructure. The scheme is being upgraded and extended in phases due to the excessive costs.
Mr Mokubung confirmed that phase 1 involved the replacement of the pipeline from Kathu to Black Rock and the replacement of the line from Roscoe to Kathu.
Phase 2 involves the upgrade of the water treatment plant in Delportshoop, pump stations and the pipeline from the plant to Kathu.
In response to an enquiry directed to Sedibeng Water by the South African Human Rights Commission, on whether the non-delivery of water to Olifantshoek is due to non-payment, the same interim CEO Mpheteng Mokubung replied on 19 February 2019 that Gamagara local municipality is behind on payments and that sporadic payments have impacted maintenance schedules and upgrades to the water scheme. The water scheme assets are depreciating on an annual basis and some of the components have to be refurbished and upgraded. Without regular payments for services rendered, it is a challenge for the water board to keep up with the ageing infrastructure whilst the volumes demanded by the municipalities are increasing. The total amount owed by Gamagara local municipality as at 19 February 2019 stands at R 18 046 926.
Mr Mokubung advised that in the long run, the Vaal Gamagara Water Supply Upgrade Project will play a major role in ensuring security of water supply. However, in the short term, water tanks and reservoirs will be used. The reservoirs will be level controlled, thus only supplying water during the day time so as to build up levels during the night again. He concluded by saying that plans and measures are in place to supply the minimum of clean potable water to all affected residents.
Sedibeng Water released another media statement on 20 February 2019 stating that since they are busy with phase 1 of the upgrade project, there will be planned shut downs to allow for partial commissioning, testing and tie-ins on the pipeline. It further stated that Gamagara municipality had been notified of these planned shutdowns and had been requested to ensure sufficient storage of water to mitigate these shortages in the affected areas for the duration of the upgrades.
The statement further stated that Gamagara had failed to pay their monthly bulk water bill from Sedibeng Water regularly. Despite having negotiated a realistic payment arrangement with Gamagara, it has failed to bear desired results.
The statement confirmed, however, that Gamagara was paying the current bill at the moment, but previous shortfalls had resulted in a massive arrears amount. It further stated that the arrears impacted negatively on the overall operation of Sedibeng Water, but that the scheme would continue to negotiate with the municipality to avoid disruptions of water supply.
