The opening of the R546-million Xonxa Dam bulk water supply project, which is expected to relieve the water crisis facing Komani and its surrounding areas, is experiencing glitches before it reaches completion.
Chris Hani spokesperson Thobeka Mqamelo said the most recent testing, which began last month, had failed by 50% on the mountain chambers due to damaged gaskets which were affected by exposure to the sun for three years.
Mqamelo said repairing the gaskets has resumed and testing would begin again in the last week of September.
The project started in 2011 when a severe drought plagued Komani and was commissioned in 2014.
According to earlier reports from CHDM the water shortages in Komani were identified almost 20 years ago through studies undertaken by the National Department of Water and Sanitation.
In a press statement released by the DA, Enoch Mgijima Constituency Leader Jane Cowley (MPL) slammed CHDM by saying none of the plentiful water from the Xonxa Dam was flowing out of the taps in Komani due to maladministration.
Cowley said the water shortages were the direct result of the continued failure of the municipality to deliver on their mandate to bring a bulk water supply to the Enoch Mgijima areas.
“As a result, schools have closed, businesses are struggling to keep their doors open and residents battle one another in queues for drinking water. Hospitals and clinics are barely able to function, and germ control is a challenge.”
She said the delays in planning, widespread corruption, inefficient maintenance and a skills deficit had resulted in the lack of water supply.
“A recent testing phase failed as flanges on the pumps malfunctioned and now need replacing. This could take weeks,” Cowley said.
She went on to say the Waterdown Dam, which was at 29% of capacity, would have sufficient water for several months provided the lowest of the sluice gates were properly maintained.
“When officials tried to open them last week, components of the gates were damaged and repairs will possibly only be done by the end of the week. I have reported the crisis to the Deputy Minister of the Department of Water and Sanitation, David Mahlobo, and requested his intervention.”
Cowley has also taken the matter to the Human Rights Commission because of poor governance and management which, she said, placed the wellbeing of Komani residents at risk.
“If immediate steps are not taken to address this crisis lives may be lost and jobs certainly will be lost as industry cannot continue without water. Enough is enough. This continued failure to deliver basic services to South Africans who pay their rates has gone far enough. In DA-led municipalities, service delivery is prioritised and the rights of citizens, particularly the right to a regular supply of clean water, are protected at all costs,” she said.
