Taps run dry in Makhanda

CRISIS: IN THE LAST FIVE-PLUS DAYS A SPRING HAS PROVIDED THE ONLY DRINKABLE WATER

Gift of the Givers sends in water trucks and is looking to drill boreholes.

Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) is having the worst water crisis in its history. The extended drought in parts of the Eastern Cape, combined with municipal neglect of water supply infrastructure has created a situation that may become a major health and sanitation crisis.

Parts of Makhanda East, where the townships are located, have been without running water for up to nine days, causing outrage among residents.

According to the Makana Municipality, water on the eastern side of town started being restored on Wednesday, with the pumps working at 50% capacity.

But some areas are still without water.

A group of protesters, many from the Unemployed People’s Movement, marched to City Hall on Wednesday.

They set trash on fire in protest against the water outages and the long-standing issue of access to clean water.

“We haven’t had water for, maybe, five days, and when there is, the water is brown. We do not want to use it,” said Ntomboxolo Ngeleza, one of the protesters who lives in Tantyi Location in Makhanda East.

Ngeleza said the municipality has not been communicating with township residents about when the water will be turned off or on, or where trucks will distribute water.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, disaster relief organisation Gift of the Givers arrived in Makhanda with trucks filled with water.

The organisation sent trucks to collection points across the town.

It also began looking for areas to drill boreholes.

Water is supplied to Makhanda through two treatment works: the Waainek Water Treatment Works and the James Kleynhans bulk water supply.

Waainek supplies water to the west, the wealthier side of town.

It receives water from the Settlers and Howiesons Poort dams, which are at 11% and 21% capacity, estimated to last until the end of the month, depending on rainfall.

When they run out, Waainek will shut down and the town will rely entirely on 10 mega litres a day from James Kleynhans.

It supplies water to Makhanda East, the poorer side of town.

It diverts water from the Orange and Fish rivers.

The problem with the James Kleynhans is less about access to water and more about ageing infrastructure and failed contracts.

According to the municipality, the recent water shutoff of Makhanda East was the result of a high concentration of mud in the water flowing into the treatment works, which meant it could not be pumped.

The municipality announced it had to turn off pumps, wait for the sludge to settle and install a new pump before starting to turn the water back on, which it finished doing on Wednesday.

A project to upgrade the pumping capacity, from 10 to 20 mega litres per day was announced in 2015, with the project due to be completed by 2017.

Chair of the Grahamstown Residents’ Association Philip Machanick said that project should have doubled the capacity for James Kleynhans.

“Then the date was pushed out a year and then the project just fell over,” he said.

“If the project had been completed we wouldn’t have a problem.

“We could have shared that water [from James Kleynhans] and at worst we would have had mild water restrictions.”

Anele Mjekula, a spokesperson for the municipality, said R160 million had been made available

When the water finally did start coming back on Wednesday it was so dirty it could only be used to flush toilets.

to upgrade James Kleynhans’ pumping capacity from 10 to 20 mega litres a day. The project is due to be completed by 2020.

He also said the municipality is sending water tankers to areas that are still without water.

Those who can’t afford rainwater tanks or store-bought water (which costs R1 a litre) turn to the local spring just outside Makhanda for drinking water.

Sometimes they wait for hours to fill a container with water.

Sandile Totman Kehle works at Fort England Psychiatric Hospital in Makhanda.

He says he had no water for over a week and when it finally did start coming back on Wednesday, he could only use it to flush toilets because it was so dirty.

Sandile gets all his drinking water from the local spring.

“This spring is our god-giver,” he said.

Rhodes University released a statement on February 11, saying it will not shut down and that it is working alongside the municipality to keep the water running.

Sandile Totman Kehle Fort England Psychiatric Hospital, Makhanda

Republished from Groundup.org. za