The Knysna municipality is once again experiencing water outages just five months after it had turned to Gift of the Givers to provide water in certain communities.
For the past three days, residents in Jood-se-Kamp, Concordia, Dam-se-Bos, Nekkies, Hlalani and Oupad had no water.
Recently elected mayor Thando Matika vowed to bring back water security in the water-scarce municipality.
“It is with deep disappointment and concern that I learnt of the recent reports indicating that some taps in our community have run dry once more.
“This situation is unacceptable, and I want to assure our residents that I am taking immediate action to address this critical issue,” Matika said.
He said he had convened a meeting with municipal manager Lulamile Mapholoba and other senior managers in the town, including members of the mayoral committee.
“During this meeting, I made it unequivocally clear that we must put an end to this recurring problem.
“Water is a fundamental human right, and our residents should not have to endure the inconvenience and distress caused by water shortages.
“A detailed report was presented and thoroughly discussed, outlining the current state of our water supply and the challenges we face.
“I am committed to ensuring that all relevant stakeholders are held accountable and that we implement effective solutions to secure a reliable water supply for all residents of Greater Knysna.
“I want to reassure our community that we are actively working on a comprehensive plan to address these issues.
“We will prioritise transparency and communication with our residents as we move forward,” Matika said.
By Tuesday afternoon, water had been restored in Jood-se-Kamp and Concordia, however Dam-se-Bos, Nekkies, Hlalani and Oupad were still without water.
Sisanda Kona, who works at a tshisanyama in Nekkies, said they had to fill up 50-litre containers of water every day since the water outage started.
“We use water to wash our hands, plates and to clean the meat, but without water in the area, all of that is not possible
“As people who deal with meat hygiene, this is important.
“Now that we rely on trucks, it’s hard to keep up and use water as we should because we must save water.”
Another resident who owns a food business in the same community, Nomfusi Skweyi, said the business suffered when they did not have water because they were forced to buy water.
“The trucks do not have a specific time of arrival. Yesterday, the truck went to Dam-se-Bos first and came back with an empty tank.
“When we asked why they did not stop, they said they didn’t realise that Nekkies also did not have water,” Skweyi said.
The Herald
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