Dry Eastern Cape town on its knees

Minister of Water and Sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu has called on the private sector to work with government in bringing solutions to Eastern Cape’s water crisis.

In an effort to ensure provision of water in the suffering province, Sisulu mandated the department’s acting director-general, Sifiso Mkhize, to work with relevant stakeholders to provide immediate relief to the province while the department seeks longterm solutions.

“We are going through difficult times as a country and we invite all stakeholders to work and partner with us to find lasting solutions to the current water challenges.

“We request our people to treasure their water infrastructure and report those who vandalise it to the law enforcement agencies”, said Sisulu.

Sisulu announced that disaster response foundation Gift of the Givers would also assist with provision of water in affected areas.

The Eastern Cape’s premier’s spokesperson, Tobile Gowa, also said they were working with other departments on finding decisive interventions.

Different parts of the province had been experiencing shortage of water supply over the past months as major dams dried up during the dry season and some from the beginning of the year. The department said the lack of rainfall had been a major contributor to the crisis.

Communities affected by the crisis are Adelaide, Bedford, Queenstown, King Williams Town, Nanaga, Makhanda and Butterworth.

Since February, Graaff-Reinet’s communities have been relying on Gift of the Givers for water – as the Nqweba dam dried up, leaving dead fish and desperate residents collecting water from unhygienic drains, as boreholes also ran dry.

The foundation described the situation as dire, as residents were jostling with one another in desperate attempts to get to supply tanks. It said in a media statement the town was on its knees.

Amathole district municipality, which Butterworth falls under, declared the district a drought area three months ago.

The municipality’s spokesperson, Nonceba Madikizela-Vuso, said this was a way to get provincial and national departments to attend to the matter. The municipality hosts six local municipalities: Mbhashe, Mnquma, Great Kei, Amahlathi, Ngqushwa and Raymond Mhlaba, that mainly consist of rural areas.

Residents blamed the government for the water crisis – as they had been experiencing water cuts for years and no intervention had been forthcoming. Residents said they remained hopeful that the summer rain season would alleviate the problem.