In a significant step toward securing reliable water access for thousands of Eastern Cape residents, the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina officially unveiled the completed Kirkwood Bulk Water Supply Project in Nqweba (formerly Kirkwood), located within the Sundays River Valley Local Municipality.
This strategic infrastructure project, funded by the Department of Water and Sanitation through the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) and implemented by Amatola Water, aims to strengthen water security in the Sarah Baartman District.
The development has increased raw water storage capacity from 20.2 million litres to 34.2 million litres, significantly improving supply reliability for over 16 000 residents in Nqweba, Bontrug (Moses Mabida), Msengeni, and surrounding communities.
The unveiling brought together key leaders united by a common goal: delivering clean, sustainable water to the people.
Among the dignitaries present were Sarah Baartman District Executive Mayor, Deon de Vos, Sundays River Valley Municipality Mayor, Solethu Lucas, Chairperson of the Multi-Party Women’s Caucus, Lindelwa Dunjwa, Mike Primmer, CEO of Lower Sundays River Water Users Association and officials from Amatola Water Board and the Department of Water and Sanitation.
The completed project includes a newly constructed 14 million-litre raw water lay dam at the Kirkwood Water Treatment Works, two 3-million-litre steel reservoirs; one in Kirkwood serving Aqua Park and Bergsig, and another in Bontrug for Moses Mabida and surrounding areas, along with essential infrastructure like inlet chambers, interconnecting pipework, and security fencing to ensure efficient water zoning and distribution.
Majodina said, “We are concerned about the Eastern Cape. There is a shortage of water here. It is important to note that this is a small area, with a small municipality that does not normally get support from National Government. We are here now because intervention from National Government is needed to help the irrigation of this agro-town. We built this dam and opened the reservoirs because the water must supply every area of Nqweba. It will help the people greatly, because water is essential to life.”
Majodina added that the municipality is aware that water leaks are prevalent, however, they cannot identify every water leak on their own.
They need community involvement in identifying more water leaks. A plan will be implemented and shared through the Ward council members to get an on-the-ground liaison to bridge the gap between the municipality and the community.
Mike Primmer, CEO of Lower Sundays River Water Users Association said, “This reservoir is important because it allows greater assurance to local community, as well as greater adaptability from the Water User Association in the supply of raw water, because it provides greater storage and balancing capacity. In the past, the maintenance that we have done on the canal system has been very restricted by the amount of water we are able to supply to the community, because they take preference in terms of water supply.
“This buys us a little more time to do our maintenance and our refurbishment programme a lot more efficiently. During what we call the ‘winter dry period’ in which we close for about four days to make repairs, it will now buy us a little more time to do more maintenance more efficiently, ultimately costing us less.”
He added, “To summarise, the costs are going to be considerably less, and the benefit to the community will be greater, now that they have a greater assurance of supply. I think this dam is going to alleviate all the pressure on municipality to supply water to its residents.”
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