Kestell has been without water for ten consecutive days following another failure at the Sterkfontein Water Treatment Plant, where the power infrastructure has once again collapsed.
The situation has worsened to the point where a local school with more than 1 000 learners, including a hostel, has been forced to close until further notice due to the lack of water.
The matter has been reported to the MEC for the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Saki Mokoena, according to DA councillor in the Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality, Leona Kleynhans.
Residents of Kestell and the Tlholong area have experienced frequent and prolonged water disruptions, often lasting weeks at a time. Kleynhans says these ongoing outages violate residents’ constitutional right to access water.
Despite interventions by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), the construction of a new pipeline from QwaQwa to Kestell, and repeated assurances that the crisis would be resolved, water supply remains unreliable.
During an investigation, it was found that more than 50% of purified water in Maluti-a-Phofung is lost through leaks. While DWS has allocated over R2 billion for infrastructure projects to repair water treatment plants and construct pipelines, responsibility for operating and maintaining these systems lies with the municipal entity MaPWater.
Although council resolved in February 2024 to disestablish MaPWater, the entity continues to operate. The DA has raised concerns about its capacity to fulfil its mandate, citing reports of sabotage, intimidation and a failure to repair leaks.
One of the major DWS projects includes doubling the capacity of the Sterkfontein Water Treatment Plant, which supplies Kestell and large parts of QwaQwa, including Bluegumbosch. The upgrade, expected to be completed in April, will increase capacity from 10 megalitres to 20 megalitres. However, Kleynhans warns that increased capacity will not resolve the crisis while major leaks remain.
The pipeline between QwaQwa and Kestell continues to burst regularly, often at the same locations. Power failures at the Sterkfontein plant are also common, caused by lightning strikes and ageing infrastructure. The most recent outage lasted two days.
Residents report receiving no water tanker support during outages. While some schools occasionally receive assistance, households are forced to pay for private water deliveries. The situation has been further aggravated by water shedding implemented by MaPWater, limiting supply to Kestell between 21:00 and 05:00 daily.
The DA has lodged a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission, which has found violations of residents’ rights to life, work and access to water.
