Hundreds of residents in Mnyolo and Mkhonkotho villages in Ngcobo were able to access clean drinking water last week after the Chris Hani District Municipality connected communal taps to natural springs in the two communities.
Municipal spokesperson Thobeka Mqamelo said the project formed part of a broader spring development programme linked to the district council’s Water Tuesdays initiative, launched by mayor Lusanda Sizani.
In the two villages, three communal taps have so far been installed out of a planned six.
Mqamelo said more than R200,000 had already been spent on the installations, which were funded through the district’s annual operations and maintenance budget.
“Spring development is a cost effective way of providing water supply to communities where there are viable water sources,” she said.
“It is essentially an effort to ensure that communities have access to clean drinking water across the district in the most cost-effective way possible.
“The mountainous areas, especially in the eastern parts of the district, some located in what used to be the former Transkei region, are largely ideal for this intervention.”
She said the programme was being implemented in areas with limited or no water infrastructure, allowing for quicker access to drinking water while addressing long-standing service delivery backlogs.
“This is an alternative to traditional methods of pumping water to villages using diesel engines which either break down, get vandalised or are stolen and are also very expensive to maintain,” Mqamelo said.
To speed up implementation, a specialised team of six people has been established to focus on identifying viable springs, cleaning them, constructing protective concrete barriers, and connecting them to communal taps using gravity-fed pipes.
The Water Tuesdays initiative, Mqamelo said, involved the mayor conducting regular oversight visits to water and sanitation projects across the district, including those that were incomplete or facing challenges.
During these visits, officials engaged with residents, who often pointed out natural water sources in remote and mountainous areas.
“In most cases, identification of areas to benefit would arise from visits and physical inspection of sources available in each area, with involvement of the local community,” she said.
“However, where there have been water challenges, community engagements would point the municipality to alternative ways of water supply available in an area to augment existing supply.”
Beyond Mnyolo and Mkhonkotho, six more villages in Ngcobo — Nkalweni, Gubeni, Nogqala, Mkhonkotho-Nxumfu, Hesini and Mkhonkotho-Bhimeni — have been identified for similar projects.
Mqamelo said the programme would also be extended to other local municipalities.
Work has already been done in Nqumakala and Qwebeqwebe villages in Intsika Yethu; Noluthando, Bogo, Helushe, Mbolompeni and Qoboshane in Emalahleni; and Zingquthu, Zweledinga and Gwatyu in Enoch Mgijima.
Some villages in Sakhisizwe will also be included.
The district municipality is grappling with widespread theft and vandalism of infrastructure, which has left many communities without access to potable water.
In addition, some areas, including Ngcobo, do not have reliable main water sources such as dams.
However, Mqamelo said the municipality has benefited from a partnership with the department of agriculture, which had donated two spring projects in support of the programme.
The donated springs were located in the Enoch Mgijima and Dr AB Xuma local municipalities, she said.