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THE thriving Port Alfred area has been crippled by a water crisis which has caused a major backlog in housing delivery and chased away potential investors.

The quality and supply of water in Ndlambe Municipality – which includes Port Alfred, Alexandria, Kenton-on-Sea and Bushmans River Mouth – has reached critical levels.

The municipality has been forced to abandon all major construction projects until it receives funding of about R350-million to upgrade the water supply.

Ndlambe municipal manager Rolly Dunezweni said the municipality was confronted with a “serious crisis” due to the shortage of bulk water supply in the area.

“We are no longer building houses because of the water shortage. We have a housing project, called the Thornhill project, which was supposed to see 5000 RDP houses built in the township areas, but now we can’t go ahead with it.

“We promised the people houses, but the water we have can only cater for 500 houses. The question is, who do we build for and who do we leave out? That’s a recipe for conflict. Everything is at a standstill when it comes to housing and economic development in Ndlambe.”

Dunezweni said a large number of developers who had shown interest in investing in the area had pulled out after they were alerted to the water situation. “It means we are trapped in poverty forever because we do not have water. A pineapple factory was supposed to be built in Bathurst, relocating from East London, but we know the water is going to be a very big problem.

“A company has shown interest in opening a dairy farm in Alexandria, but there is no way our water will be able to sustain that.”

Only three months into his post as municipal manager, Dunezweni is faced with the tough task of finding a solution to the water problem.

“We have tried many initiatives, but there seems to be no success. We thought of drawing water from the Gariep Dam to supply Kleinemond to Alexandria, but there seems to be a reluctance from the minister because there are many parties drawing water from there.”

He said another option was to get water from the Amathole District, which had indicated there was “more than enough water” to supply the Ndlambe area until 2029.

“For that project we need money, which we do not have. They said it would cost about R350-million to supply the whole area, so they have left us with the homework to try and come up with a plan.

“We have looked at drawing water from the desalination plant in Bushmans, which is the biggest in South Africa, but during the summer season it could hardly cope with supplying water to its area and Kenton-on-Sea. Already there are water restrictions in that area, so how much worse would (the situation) be if we had to still draw water from there.”

He said water restrictions had already been implemented in the entire Ndlambe area, in order for it to “survive”. The restrictions are in force on certain days of the week from about 10pm until 5.30am, so that water can be pumped into the reservoirs.

Dunezweni said the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) had promised the municipality funding of about R2,5-million to upgrade the desalination plant because the water quality was currently “so bad you cannot water plants, let alone drink it”.

He said Alexandria received its water from springs but the town was also facing a serious water shortage. “In Alexandria there is hardly ever water over the weekends, so we have tried to help the situation by supplying them with water tanks because we can’t supply our people with water daily.

“There’s also a pilot project on recycled water in Alexandria. It is in an advanced stage, but we have to still comply with many DWAF requirements because we have to make sure the water is (fit for human consumption).”

The pilot project, a multiple-stage water treatment project, recycles waste water through membranes and reverse osmosis to produce clean water.

Dunezweni said it would not relieve the water problem altogether as it was a short-term project, due to the municipality only receiving R2,5-million to address the emergency.

“We have looked at a range of options, including desalination, which in the long run becomes too expensive, especially with this crisis with electricity.

“The pumps would have to be on all the time, and given that Eskom is raising its tariffs, I don’t think the municipality would be able to maintain it.”

He is concerned about the upcoming December holiday season, as Port Alfred particularly relies on tourism to sustain the town.

“We have to make sure we save enough water to sustain the December season because we do not want to chase the tourists away. The holiday season puts a lot of strain on us.

“When people drive through Port Alfred, their perception is that it’s such a beautiful and rich town, but that’s not the case; we desperately need money.”

Dunezweni said the Ndlambe Municipality had received funding from the Cacadu District Municipality to supply every RDP house with water tanks, and it had been given money by the DWAF to fix all the leaks in the townships.