Water woes continue

It was established that workers from the Limpopo Roads Agency (RAL) were busy upgrading the stormwater system in the area, when the main feeder pipe was damaged as well as power cables that powered nearby streetlights. The incident happened around Friday 26 August.

The result was a lack of pressure in the water flow to residents and the rest of the town. Residents received less or no water at all since then.

To make matters worse, Eskom reinstated load shedding, leading to further loss in the water supply. The town’s main reservoirs are, for all intended purposes, nearly empty on a daily basis.

The damage caused the municipality to not be able to pump raw water from the town’s catchment area to the water treatment works and then to the main reservoirs, situated at the top of town.

Temporary measures were put in place to restrict water usage at night while the problem was attended to.

According to Peter Moloto, municipal spokesperson, Magalies Water became the town’s main service provider for water due to the damaged pipeline.

“The municipality was from the moment it happened proactive and placed RAL on terms to fix what they damaged. The bill to fix the damage will be squarely placed at RAL’s front door. The repair was completed in the week.”

It is known that the municipality has a contract with Magalies for the provision of an estimated contribution of 35%. Although, the volume amount is being disputed.

According to the DA, the municipality must urgently take the cost implication of solely relying on Magalies alone over the long term in consideration.

The only information available at this time regarding the town’s water supply is from the July municipal council report.

Magalies contributed 155 148 kl of water, while the town’s own sources delivered only 102 173 kl at the end of June.

Rika Kruger, DA councilor, said in a statement that Magalies have decreased their quota of water to Bela-Bela by half as of Monday 12 September.

The quota, as per the agreement between Magalies and the municipality, currently stands at 4300 megaliters per month, said Kruger.

An estimated municipal budget amount of R800 000 was allocated to pay for Magalies’ services per month.

The current account reflects that the municipality owes Magalies over R2 million, which the initial budget cannot make up for.

Johan Mills, DA councilor, worries that in the event that drought or an unscheduled event occurs, the town will be unable to rely on a service provider alone — with which the municipality is already in arrears.

“At this rate with the infrastructure that is not functioning at full capacity, our own dam sources will only be able to sustain the town for seven years if not properly managed. The municipality must investigate those who are using water without restrictions, even indigent residents. Not to mention that taxpayers are already burdened with exorbitant tariff hikes.”

In the municipal budget for the current financial year, a budget amount of R4,9 million was made available for the procurement of eight backup generators.

Their purpose is to pump water to and from water sources to the treatment works, and into reservoirs, in the case of power failure — like load shedding.

No generators have been procured to date, which is also a contributing factor to the recent water shortages.

With an increasing daily water demand from residents and the reservoirs still nearly empty, no sufficient amount of water can be stored in the town’s reservoirs, said Jeedee Cloete, VF Plus councilor.

“When Eskom switches the power off between 09:00 and 11:00, for instance, this means that no water can be channeled to any reservoir from the treatment works. It takes between 90 to 120 minutes until the first volume of treated water reaches the reservoir. Loadshedding is a genuine issue.”

Arguments are already taking place on the municipal sub-committee level about whether the town’s treatment works are fully operational, he added.

“There are intense discussions already on the professionalism and capability of contractors. In the case of RAL, a new contractor had to be appointed because the contractor from RAL was, in my view, ill-equipped and lacking in expertise,” said Cloete.

“If the treatment works were in fact fully functional then the town would have received the appropriate volume. Most reports we receive are proven to be inaccurate.”

Urgent discussions are taking place with the new municipal manager, George Ramagaga, to obtain the generators necessary to save the town from a pending water crisis.