Makhanda hung out to dry by striking municipal workers

Despite cries from the town’s landmark institution, Makhanda’s water crisis shows little sign of abating.

Management and students from Rhodes University marched to the municipality’s offices on Friday, 30 August, in protest of their unbearably dry taps.

The current water outage is due to a municipal workers’ strike, with officials claiming that the striking workers are sabotaging the infrastructure.

‘Unions stronger than municipality’

In the 120^th year of the university’s existence, lectures were suspended as the town endured a week-long water outage.

Standing on the steps of the municipal offices, students demanded the restoration of their water supply.

By Friday afternoon, the town experienced a few short hours of trickling taps but by Sunday, they were dry again – residents and businesses resorting to again using tanks and buckets.

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Makana Municipality Ward 4 councillor Geoff Embling explained to The Citizen that the workers’ anger comes after having their overtime hours cut.

Embling adds that the workers’ unions hold incredible sway, which is aided by a municipality that does not take the necessary punitive actions.

He said that “pages and pages” of reports have been sent to council that showed worrying levels of mismanagement, but they had not been acted on.

“The tail wags the dog. There is no consequence management. No-one is dealt with, basically. The workers run riot and the unions are far more powerful that the municipality,” Embling told The Citizen.

Municipality pleads for assistance

Rhodes University Student Representative Council Vice-President Bukho Gwayana gave an impassioned plea outside the municipal offices on Friday.

“The continuous water outages are not only an inconvenience, but a threat to our community’s wellbeing and development,” Gwayana shouted.

“The crisis undermines our ability to attract top businesses to the area, severely affecting local economic growth,” she added.

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Makana Mayor Yandiswa Vara and several officials addressed the march but were repeatedly interrupted by a chorus of jeers.

The officials explained that they would address the students’ demands but that their hands were tied by the actions of the municipal workers.  

Sabotage and wasted funds

Embling has been councillor in the cultural town once known as Grahamstown for just over two years.

He stated that the council did not prioritise water infrastructure maintenance but instead “spent millions on inconsequential projects”.

Additionally, a project started in 2017 to refurbish the town’s primary water treatment plant has still not been completed despite the R100 million budget swelling to over R400 million.

“We have poor finances, a terrible budget, no money is spent on infrastructure and we are just paying off debts and a bloated workforce,” said Embling.

The current municipal workers’ strike is not the first he has encountered.

The municipality cut the workers’ overtime hours two years ago, with the result being alleged sabotage and the subsequently dry taps.