Parts of Grahamstown run dry just days before festival opens

GRAHAMSTOWN is facing a daunting water crisis mere days before thousands of visitors pour into the city for the National Arts Festival.

One of the city’s major pumping stations flooded on Sunday, damaging pumps and leaving large areas of the city without water.

Grahamstown East, parts of the CBD and Rhodes University, and many high-lying areas were left without water.

Water pressure in other areas remained dismally low late yesterday.

But officials, festival management and businesses remained hopeful the situation would be resolved before the festival kicked off on Thursday.

Makana Municipality, with support from Amatola Water, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Sarah Baartman District Municipality, moved swiftly yesterday to try to resolve the water catastrophe.

Matters were made worse by fierce veld fires south of Grahamstown near the N2.

Makana fire chief William Welkom said late yesterday no properties had been damaged.

He was hopeful that predicted late-night rain would assist in putting out the persistent fires.

He said the fire department’s water supply had not been affected.

The outages in Grahamstown East on Sunday morning alerted the municipality to a problem.

Senior Makana officials, including acting municipal manager Riana Meiring, reportedly rushed to the James Kleynhans water treatment works and pump station at Glen Melville Dam east of Grahamstown after an employee reported the pump station under water.

By midmorning yesterday, the municipality reported that the failure of a seal in the second pump had caused the problem.

Meiring indicated that the municipality was treating the situation as a disaster.

By yesterday morning, the pump station had been cleared and the pump motors removed.

Municipal spokeswoman Yoliswa Ramokola said one of the pumps had been coupled to a new motor and was hopeful that at least one pump would start working.

In the meantime, tankers were delivering water to all affected areas, she said.

National Arts Festival chief executive Tony Lankester said everyone was working towards having the supply restored.

“We are hopeful that, by the time the festival starts on Thursday, the water supply will be restored,” he said.

Makana Unity League chair Professor Owen Skae said it was unsettling that this should happen with the festival imminent.

“Grahamstown East residents once again get the brunt of service delivery issues,” Skae said.

Grahamstown Business Forum committee member Eugene Repinz said they were deeply concerned about the situation.

Hundreds of people drove to the natural spring outside the town to stock up on drinking water.