‘ Water leaks not being fixed’
Resident says years of reporting come to nothing
AKomani resident says he is tired of being sent from pillar to post, empty promises and dereliction of duty, while it all comes at the cost of water security in the town.
Hennie de Beer has, since 2018, been trying to draw the attention of the Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM) to various water leaks in Komani.
De Beer has documented and issued a report of leaks which have been steadily running for years around town, something he says has affected the Berry Dam, Waterdown Dam and will affect the Xonxa water supply. Last year CHDM argued the “only contributing factor for the water capacity of the Waterdown Dam was the drought. This was false!” he said.
While acknowledging the drought had affected water supply, De Beer said water wastage in town since 2018 had made the problem worse. Since 2018 I took it upon
“myself to report the leaks and I did not do it telephonically. I physically got into my vehicle each time and drove to their offices. On many occasions I stopped CHDM vehicles and directed them to the leaks.”
The frustrated resident said he then went to the assistant technical director, Moses Shasha, hoping the leaks would be addressed.
I personally delivered a
“letter to Shasha in May last year,” he said, adding that he then directed Shasha to other leaks. I told him about the Komani “
River which was flowing 24/7
— a matter of great concern. I went to his office in August last year and requested an in-depth investigation be done about Waterdown Dam and its critical levels. He assured me this would be done the same day,” he said.
De Beer said he tried to draw the attention of Shasha to the issue of the Berry Dam leak, but arrangements to meet were unsuccessful. However, De Beer did take the area manager of CHDM and a technician to the site of the leak.
In September last year De Beer said there was an effort to fix the leak, but this only resulted in the leak appearing elsewhere. It seems to me that CHDM is “unable, but more likely they are unwilling to repair the leaks. Why not utilise the expertise of ex-Water and Sanitation Services South Africa (WSSA) employees? In my dealings with CHDM “workers, they tell me without hesitation that their hands are tied. The reason for the delay in repairs is mostly because there is no money for materials and in some cases, to buy the tools required for the work,” he said. It was brought to my
“attention by a reliable source that as far back as 2018 there were plans on the table to repair the Berry Dam leak. What happened to that plan and why was it not implemented? Why is there no money for
“the necessary parts and material to repair the leaks that are of concern to residents? CHDM needs to realise that “
Xonxa Dam is not an ocean and will eventually dry up just like Waterdown. It owes the residents of this town an apology for neglecting to timeously repair the leaks, thus resulting in severe shortages,” he said.
In reply, CHDM spokesperson Thobeka Mqamelo said leaks in the water network were due to old infrastructure.
Our Customer Call Centre “receives and records all incoming complaints and we do have records of these and reported leakages are attended to through a comprehensive water loss control programme. Some of the leaks are attended to in a phased approach to avoid total disruption of water supply to the whole of Komani including Ezibeleni. Our technical team also conducts inspections as part of their routine monitoring.
The Waterdown has never “been at full capacity for about eight years. This is fully attributed to drought conditions as the dam currently stands at a mere 28.54% as of September 14.
We therefore cannot refute “the fact that there are water leakages in the entire water network system. This is due to old infrastructure in the area, for example the line from Waterdown is more than 40 years old and was mainly meant to service a fraction of the population and thus its capacity is inadequate.
Water losses referred to, “flowing into the Komani River, are as a result of water treatment processes. We take the same water to our sludge lagoons and when these are full they overflow and some are leaking, water will run back to the river. A plan is in place to refurbish the lagoons.
Former WSSA staff was “absorbed when the contract was terminated and we are therefore utilising the same personnel.
The district municipality “receives a high volume of customer complaints which are referred to our technical team and they are dispatched immediately. However due to work load there are delays in resolving some of the problems.
Processes are at an “advanced stage to establish and equip our own stores to ensure material is available as needed. We commend the involvement of community members on service delivery issues, and encourage them to report any suspected inefficiencies to the authorities,” said Mqamelo.