We need water not tarred roads, say angry residents

For more than a year, residents of a small Eastern Cape town have been without water – desperately asking that authorities hear their pleas for clean, drinkable water.

But instead of Buffalo City Metro (BCM) addressing Macleantown’s water woes, the city spent R10m tarring inner town streets – a move the estimated 500 residents said they were against as they needed the lifesaving natural resource over the upgrading of the streets.

The residents said the multimillion-rand roads project was “pointless”.

BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said Pearce, Miller, Stegman and Town Hall streets were being upgraded after residents had apparently asked that they be tarred during the consultations on the integrated development plan (IDP).

Residents told the Daily Dispatch this week that “we do not remember” asking for the tarring of the streets.

Ngwenya admitted that the area had water problems because the ward had “grown beyond” the existing infrastructure. He said plans were afoot to address this in the current financial year.

Residents of a small Eastern Cape town with an estimated population of 500 car-less people, want the municipality to stop building them ‘pointless’ tarred roads and supply them with water. Macleantown, a tiny and sleepy settlement on the N6 outside East London, has been without water for more than a year, according to residents. (Malibongwe Dayimani)

The metro has been carting water to residents, but they said that was not enough. As a result, some residents have relied on commercial bee farmer Kola le Roux’s untreated borehole water.

Some have been forced to draw water from stagnant streams.

While residents told the Dispatch this week that they were grateful to Le Roux for carting the water meant for his livestock, they said some of them had suffered from diarrhoea and dry skin after drinking or bathing in the “salty” water.

Le Roux jokingly said he was the only person in the area with a car and said one of the roads should be named “Kola Street”.

Asked what the municipality should do to fix the problem, Le Roux said 10km north of the town lies Wriggleswade Dam with “clean beautiful” water.

“All the BCM needed to do is to connect a pipe that will transfer water to the residents. Currently the pipe that is delivering water to the town and other areas like Newlands from Nahoon Dam is only 75mm wide and was constructed more than 20 years ago.

“The area has since developed. The problem is that the pipe is too small. The water demand outstrips the supply capacity of the pipe,” he said.

Ward councillor Ntunkulana Ncotela agreed, saying the pipe was the cause of the lack of water in 12 villages in his Ward 26.

Defending the tarring project, a chuckling Ncotela said: “People love to complain. Please tell me how will ambulances reach them when they are sick? Those roads are built for emergency purposes.”

The residents were also not impressed with a fibre optic internet cable that runs through the town from Aliwal North. “A new water pipe could have been put in the same trench with intenet cables,” said Zimi George, 30.

Another resident, Loyiso Ntobixelwa, said: “My rain tanks have run dry a long time ago. The river water is too dirty to drink. I have been wearing the same dirty clothes. The situation is unhygienic.”

Le Roux’s nine employees at his farm have to take water with them when they leave work for their families.

Phumeza Njoli, 32, said she was worried that her twin children, aged two, would get an infection. Her sister Phelisa Njoli, 24, said her skin was getting dry and was breaking due to the borehole water.

Ngwenya said the water shortage was caused by the ward which had “grown beyond” the existing infrastructure.

“The pumps that delivers water to the main reservoir, which is Nkqonkqweni, are too small as well as the main reservoir so this reservoir does not fill up.

“The configuration requires that the main reservoir be at least 35% full for the other pumps that deliver to Macleantown and Kwetyana reservoir,” he said.

“In addressing the matter, BCMM has appointed a contractor to institute the upgrades in this financial year 2019-20 and the project will be conducted in phases. The first phase, starting with the upgrade of pumps and associated electrical installations in Nahoon Dam, a rising main to Nkqonkqweni which itself will be upgraded to 1.5 megalitres a day.

“Phase 2 will be upgrading rising and gravity mains to Kwetyana and a 3-megalitre reservoir at Kwetyana.”

Ngwenya said the first phase of the project started in March while the second phase started in May.