South Africa: Grahamstown's Dirty Water Blamed On Municipality's Inefficiency

Some residents of Grahamstown and other parts of Makana Municipality have been without access to clean water for months. This follows the discovery by independent laboratories in mid-May that levels of e.coli in Makana's drinking water supply were unsafe. This sparked outrage among local residents and civil society organisations who accuse the municipality of inefficiency and mismanagement.

The problem was first raised publicly by the Social Development and Infrastructure Development and Technical Services portfolio committees who, on 16 and 17 May, highlighted that high levels of e.coli -- a bacterium indicating contamination by faeces or sewage, which can cause a number of illnesses -- was found in the water supply.

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