Sedibeng Water’s failure to heed flood warnings, has left fourteen towns within the Nama Khoi municipality in the Northern Cape, without water.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will report this grave mismanagement of bulk water supply infrastructure to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) given that thousands of residents’ right to access to water, has been violated.
In spite of flood alerts and warnings by myself to the Nama Khoi municipality on the 20th and 26th of January, to lift the pumps amidst rising waters, they shrugged off my pleas for them to communicate with the water board. Did they forget that the supply of water to residents remains the municipality’s responsibility?
On a subsequent visit to Henkries, on 1 February 2021, where the pumps are located, Sedibeng also disregarded my caution. The pumps were already just one meter above the water level (see pics here and here), which was expected to rise by another five meters.
Sedibeng’s Mr Rendani Ramudzuli, the Ops and Maintenance Manager of Namakwa, was confident that, because it is flatter on the Namibian side of the Orange River, and uphill on the side where the pumps are located, that the water would not reach them. He also conceded that the winches, used to pull up the pumps, were broken, as was the standby pump (pump number four). He said there was no money to fix them.
As the water rose on the 6th of February, the pumps were effectively submerged in the flood water and a contractor had to dive them out in dangerous conditions, in order for them to be fixed. The cost of replacing the pumps is far higher than the cost of repairing the winches.
It is unacceptable that Sedibeng Water was incapable of assessing the situation.
The current disaster, that has resulted in millions of litres of fresh water from the Orange River spilling into the sea, could have been easily prevented. Instead, households, businesses and health facilities are left waterless, despite being in a Covid-19 hotspot municipality.
The DA is assisting the community with the provision of water tanks and borehole water. We will submit a complaint to the SAHRC. We have also called on COGHSTA MEC, Bentley Vass, to urgently intervene and we have referred the matter to our counterparts in parliament.
Sedibeng se must be held responsible for this manmade disaster. They must also account for the R1 billion replacement of the water pipe from Springbok to the Orange River, which is already R500 million over budget. The excess R500 million could rather have been used to repair the pumps and winches and build a new storage dam.
Water is an increasingly scarce resource. It must be impeccably managed, and treated as such.