Enoch Mgijima, Chris Hani municipalities respond

Though they are facing the wrath of dissatisfied communities, the Enoch Mgijima local municipality and its water service provider, Chris Hani district municipality, say they are not resting on their laurels.

District municipality spokesperson Bulelwa Ganyaza said the water outages in some parts of Komani were caused by dilapidated infrastructure and the capacity constraints of the Komani water treatment plant.

The plant had a capacity of 28 megalitres and distributed water to various parts of Komani, including Ezibeleni, Madeira, Mlungisi and the business areas.

However, Ganyaza said, the population had grown, meaning demand for water now far exceeded what could be supplied.

“As a result, high-lying areas become worst affected when the demand is high.”

Ganyaza said the municipality had approved about R20m for the refurbishment of the Komani water treatment works, and was confident the work would bring muchneeded relief.

The municipality has also lined up other projects to address the water woes, including:

The Rathwick project a R45m housing development. Sewer lines and pump stations are now being constructed for new houses to be built in Mlungisi by the department of human settlements;

The Machibini water treatment works project is under way, with another phase planned to augment the water supply for Ezibeleni; and

The refurbishment of the Komani water treatment works, at a cost of about R29m.

Referring to the discovery of condoms, nappies and underwear in water supplied by tankers, Ganyaza said officials believed vandals were responsible for what she described as “a deliberate attempt to discredit the alternative water supply in the area”.

“At no stage has the municipality delivered water contaminated by the identified foreign objects. Water delivered to all our communities, including Ezibeleni, is from purified and processed sources.”

The cash-strapped Enoch Mgijima municipality admitted its refuse-collection problems stemmed from a shortage of trucks.

Municipal spokesperson Lonwabo Kowa said: “The municipality is using staff to collect refuse in town and residential areas regularly, to bridge the gap caused by a shortage of trucks.

“Clearing of illegal dumping sites is also done to keep residences clean. The municipality has always urged people to refrain from illegal dumping.”

Kowa said the 6.9km Fikile Gwadana road construction project was 80% complete.

Construction should have been completed by now but there was a delay due to a court interdict which was later overturned.

“Another project, the Unathi Mkefa taxi route, is about to begin,” he said.

“The contractor was introduced to communities on April 15. This will take eight months and is valued at R31m. Construction of the Mlungisi taxi route is complete.”

Kowa said Bells Road was under construction. The project had been delayed due to contractual disagreements and was re-advertised as procurement had to begin anew. “Work is now under way. Alternative routes were opened and traffic congestion was eased.”

Kowa said the municipality had been patching potholes around Komani using internal resources.

Though the Dispatch team experienced a power outage in Ezibeleni on Friday night, he said: “There is no electricity load reduction in Enoch Mgijima. There was high demand in Ezibeleni at the beginning of April and now a new substation transformer is being installed.”