MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

The dark cloud hanging over Chiapini’s Klip Dam

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Dear MyPE

In February 2020 the wall of the Chiapini’s Klip Dam breached. Since then, the DA has written several letters to the Joe Gqabi District Municipality, requesting updates on the damages, but to no avail.

Subsequently, the DA escalated the matter to the Eastern Cape MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Xolile Nqatha, who could provide little in the way of information, other than to confirm that R1,2 million has already been spent on the repair of the dam.

Burgersdorp is a water scarce area with no catchment capacity to feed the town with enough water.

The communities are punished with water restrictions and water is only available for six hours every second day.

Work at Chiapini’s Klip Dam is still not completed. (See pictures here, here and here)

The rain season is upon us and communities are hoping that the catchment areas will fill to the brim, in time for the festive season, but this is highly unlikely if the work on the dam is not completed.

The stark reality is that, until such time as the work is completed, all water flowing into the dam, flows straight out as the Department of Water and Sanitation says work completed is insufficient and the dam is, therefore, not able to store water.

The dark clouds bringing rain have turned into dark clouds hanging over the ability of the Joe Gqabi District Municipality to get the job done!

I will, today, be writing to Leon Basson, MP, DA Shadow Minister of Water and Sanitation, to raise this as a matter of urgency in Parliament.

The DA will continue to fight to ensure that the long-suffering communities of Burgersdorp can benefit from every drop of water.

Regards

Cllr Marina van Zyl
Joe Gqabi District Municipality

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This author is a 'catch-all' for occasional articles and letters written to MyPE. The Author of each article can be found in the signature at the bottom of each individual article.