Honourable mayor, since the amalgamation in 2016, I have on numerous occasions communicated – verbally (in council) as well as via the written word – regarding the water crisis in Umjindi. Since 2019, when the situation once more became critical, I have followed up with you in writing numerous times.
You were respectfully requested to became personally involved in order to find solutions, short- as well as long-term. You were requested to establish proper communication channels with the residents of Umjindi. To this day, no feedback has been received with regards to this matter. The water situation in Umjindi has now reached such a critical stage that the dam level is currently on 14,7 per cent. In effect, this resulted in a limit of 30 per cent of daily water use allowed to be purified.
DA councillor, Philip Minnaar.
The latter gets distributed throughout the whole Umjindi area. Due to the extreme heat we have experienced, the demand is higher than normal, making it unrealistic to build up the reservoir levels. To worsen the situation, it became impossible to implement the water rationing schedule. This schedule is being managed by the water department, who is responsible for the distribution of water based on what is available in the respective reservoirs.
Water is not available on a daily basis. Most residents, especially the residents of Emjindini, are without water for up to three days. There is no way of providing time frames to the community regarding when the water will be off or available. On a daily basis, residents have to collect water from JoJo tanks, where such tanks are available, as well as a few water extraction points within the municipal area. There are still countless residents who are irrigating their gardens and washing their vehicles with a garden hose. No law enforcement measures are in place. The responsible structure is based in Mbombela, resulting in no law enforcement where it is needed most.
The local officials are doing their best under the circumstances, but they are under extreme pressure, working long hours and not getting sufficient support from the City of Mbombela Local Municipality (CMLM). Water is the most basic need and being without water on a daily basis, sometimes up to three days, has resulted in tremendous despair among the residents. To worsen the situation, apart from my regular communications with you as mentioned in the beginning of this letter, no official statement or any form of communication has, to date, been forthcoming from CMLM. Since the amalgamation, the residents of Umjindi feel betrayed and are worse off than before.
When decisions regarding the community, was made by the Umjindi Municipality. Service delivery is almost non-existent due to a lack of funds. CMLM’s financial situation is worsening each day. It should be noted that, unlike in many other areas in Mbombela, all the residents of Umjindi are paying rates and taxes, but don’t get decent service delivery or the treatment they deserve. The Barberton Ratepayers Association and the Umjindi community in general expressed their frustration and disappointment with CMLM. Not only on the way it handles the crisis, but its inability to find long-term solutions to the dilemma. Honourable mayor, you need to step up and take responsibility for your administration. Also, ensure that proper measures are in place to guarantee decent service delivery, especially water availability. The most cumbersome fact is that there is no political will to find a long-term solution to the problem.
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The Lomati Dam was built many years ago, and even when full, cannot cope with the demand due to population growth over the years. Despite this, CMLM continues to approve new developments in Umjindi, knowing full well that the prevailing water storage capacity cannot cope with any further expansion. The only solution to the Umjindi water problem is to urgently build a dam within a bigger water catchment area. In 2014 a private development, with private funding, was presented to the former Umjindi Town Council. In 2016, after the amalgamation, the same proposal was presented to you and the mayoral committee.
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Since then, more than a few presentations have been submitted to you, it was included in the Integrated Development Plan as well as CMLM’s 2030 vision as the Umjindi energy zone. These proposed developments included the building of three dams with hydro-power capacity. Two of the dams will provide for water and electricity needs in Umjind.
The third dam will provide much-needed relief for water and electricity to Mbombela. It is not clear why then, in view of all the above, the delay to finalise an agreement with Blue Crane Assets Pty Ltd, is now in its fourth year. The project has been scheduled to be completed within five years. This development will also generate considerable additional income for CMLM. Unfortunately, the National Department of Water Affairs, the department responsible for building dams, doesn’t have the political will, capacity or funding to build dams. We can’t afford to wait any longer for it to come up with solutions.
This private development initiative is therefore our only solution and should be supported and welcomed. We have wasted four years of precious time. How many years longer do Umjindi residents have to wait until CMLM takes them seriously? How much time still needs to pass before proper service delivery, including water on a regular basis, becomes a reality?
The water problems are going on for more than ten years, the long-term solution is on your table, but there has been no response or attempts to listen or implement solutions for the plight Umjindi residents face. Umjindi suffered severely under violent protest actions at beginning of 2020. Let’s prevent another “Esidemeni” situation, where people’s lives are being adversely affected by poor government decision making when it could have been prevented. Honourable mayor, the Umjindi residents are pleading with to you to step up and make bold decisions, the solutions are on your table.
The proposed proposals for the building of the dams will be highly appreciated by the community as a whole and could restore trust and faith in the City Mbombela Municipality. We cannot afford any further delays and we need proactive action now. Up until this point, the amalgamation has not only let us down, but it appears as if it has failed to accept and recognise Umjindi and its residents as equal to residents of Mbombela. We have no choice but to insist that, going forward, we receive the service delivery treatment we deserve.
