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Millions of litres of Nooitgedacht water going to waste during NMB water crisis

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Dear MyPE

On Monday, 8 June 2020, I led a DA delegation in conducting an oversight inspection at the Grassridge reservoirs, where an overflow is the cause of tens of millions of litres of potable water from the Nooitgedacht Water Scheme going to waste.

The reservoirs are situated between Coega and Addo and consist of a smaller, operational reservoir and a larger reservoir that is still under construction.

Over the last year the operational reservoir has overflown on numerous occasions, and each time this happens millions of litres of water go to waste.

It would appear the system that is supposed to automatically stop the inflow of water to the reservoir, to prevent it from overflowing when it reaches capacity, is faulty and is the cause of all this wastage.

Nelson Mandela Bay continuously fails to utilise its full allocation of water from Nooitgedacht, and now millions of litres from the scheme are going to waste.

The DA’s NMB Spokesperson for Infrastructure and Engineering, Cllr Masixole Zinto, reported this to the Municipality – which seems to have been unaware of the problem. Officials have committed to sourcing the necessary parts and repair the system.

The DA Eastern Cape Shadow MEC for Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, Retief Odendaal, MPL, will also take the matter up with the Department of Water Affairs and the Eastern Cape Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA).

The current state of affairs is very concerning, as water from the Nooitgedacht Water Scheme is seen as the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s only lifeline and possible defence against a looming Day Zero.

The main dams supplying water to the Metro are now at a combined 19,45% of capacity and, at the current rate, could run dry by November 2020.

The DA will do everything in its power to save NMB residents from taps running dry.

Regards

NMB Cllr Nqaba Bhanga
DA EC Provincial Leader

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