Water crisis leaves towns in dire straits

About 12 towns between Queenstown and Mount Fletcher have been plunged into a water crisis, battling along with a very limited supply and with harsh restrictions in place.

It is “crisis management all over”, according to Joe Gqabi acting municipal manager Fiona Sephton.

“The Joe Gqabi District was declared a disaster area on November 20 and this was gazetted in December. There have been improvements in some areas since then, but in other areas it has deteriorated,” she said.

The situation in the towns is dire:

Mount Fletcher: On Sunday, the dam was down to 15%, but that has since picked up to 30% with a recent storm. In the rural areas, the boreholes are drying and the springs are not flowing;

Maclear: The two dams that supply water are completely dry. Water is being carted to the town from Ugie while an emergency pipeline is being erected and a new high-lift pump is sought to extract water from the Mooi River. Water is only available for a few hours a few days a week;

Barkly East: The Langkloof River stopped flowing, but it has since improved. Water is being carted to the neighbouring rural area of Roussouw, where the boreholes have dried up;

Rhodes: The river has almost no flow;

Lady Grey: One dam is completely dry, while the other has 20% supply left, but that cannot be drawn because of the silt. The town is relying on boreholes and water-carting;

Sterkspruit standalone villages: Only boreholes are used, pumping water for four hours at a time. Water is also being carted to the area;

Jamestown: The Skuilspruit River which feeds the Jamestown Dam is dry. Water is not available between 10am and 4pm and from 10pm to 4am;

Aliwal North: The Orange River was not flowing, but water from the Katse Dam has started coming in. Water is to be used for drinking and hygiene only.

Burgersdorp: The two dams in the town are both about 30% full, a lot of it made up of silt. Water restrictions have been in place for about a year already;

Steynsburg: Level 3 restrictions apply as the boreholes are pumping less water into the town. The municipality is getting water from the Gariep Dam; and

Queenstown: The Bonkolo Dam was about 27% full on Thursday. From Monday, water will not be available between 11am and 5.30pm daily.

In Ugie, while there is no problem of water supply, the river is contaminated with oil coming from a wetland.

Sephton said the Joe Gqabi Municipality had submitted business plans to the national government in a bid to get about R230-million extra funding to resolve the crisis.

“We were told to re-prioritise our existing funding and spend it on projects for this water situation. We are in the process of re-prioritising our existing funding,” Sephton said.