FIVE out of six local municipalities in the Chris Hani region are said to be fast approaching Day Zero if they don’t receive enough rain in December.
“It’s only Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality that is in a better state. But the rest will hit Day Zero in December if it doesn’t rain adequately enough in those areas, as most dams in these areas are at their lowest le-vel,” said Luzuko Govu, of the Chris Hani District Municipality, at a stakeholders representative forum meeting, convened last week.
This means Enoch Mgijima, Intsika Yethu, Engcobo, Sakhisizwe and Emalahleni local municipalities are the worst hit by the ongoing drought, which has seen the water and sanitation services provider – Chris Hani District Municipality – declaring a state of disaster in November.
Day Zero doesn’t mean there won’t be water at all. There will be water in the dams, but it is when the district authority will turn off most taps, leaving only vital services with access to water.
Major parts of Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality, in Komani, haven’t had water for a while, even though the supply to other areas was never cut – something which Govu said was a result of topography where the parts in low-lying areas manage to use the remaining water from the pipeline.
A resident of Ezibeleni Township, Lihle Kakaza, said they last had water in August in his area and now depended on boreholes drilled by a local businessman, which he opened to the public to help themselves.
Supply to Mlungisi Township, Victoria Park, Sabata, Sandringham and some parts of Top Town had fluctuated since May this year.
The majority of the water storage dams in the affected areas are below measurable levels already, while the Waterdown Dam, which supplies the Komani side of Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality, has dropped significantly to levels below 18%.
“The dam is at a crucial level and we are planning to open the last chamber to access the last drop and from there nobody knows what will happen,” said Govu.
He said even the last chamber has never been opened before because “it’s the first time we have experienced such water challenges in the district”.
“I will be having a meeting with the mayor and his committee to table a plan around this and how best we can alleviate the situation. And this includes looking for divers to inspect the state of the chamber before we send people to open it,” he said.
Part of Govu’s plan to ease the situation and maybe prevent it from happening in future is to also desilt Bonkolo and Berry dams. Bonkolo Dam dried up a while ago and livestock of local farmers can be seen grazing on the greens around the shoreline.
Govu said in the meeting they would discuss contracting excavators to dig out silt out of the two dams so water from Xonxa Dam can be channelled to Berry Dam as a nearby storage.
He admitted the municipality had problems with the R546-million Xonxa bulk water transfer project from Xonxa Dam to Komani, which commenced in 2015.
He said apart from the leaks, as a result of worn out gaskets on the pipeline, the recent pumping of the water had failed, and an expert’s report showed that the contractor had fitted a wrong combination of some components.
“When we attempted to pump water, the flanges failed at 40% on the mountain.
Another test will be done soon, and pumping should take place this week if all goes well,” said Govu.
