Makana Local Municipality mayor Yandiswa Vara is certain there will be enough water for those attending the National Arts Festival starting on Friday in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown).

Yandiswa Vara, mayor of the Makana Municipality in Makhanda, said she was positive that water shortages in the town would be a thing of the past after 1 July, when the improved James Kleynhans Water Treatment Works resumed operation.

She said if all the pumps were fixed, there would be enough water to ensure a sustainable potable supply to Makhanda. Vara was speaking at the launch of the National Arts Festival.

The municipality has been hammered by a catastrophic water crisis caused by failed infrastructure and burst pipes and has been unable to provide a consistent water supply to its residents for years.

A boil-before-drinking notice remains in place in Makhanda after municipal water was found to be contaminated with E.coli earlier this year. Vara said the municipality would continue testing the water.

She said the town had asked to be exempted from load shedding - which also adversely affects water provision - for the duration of the festival, but had not yet had a reply from Eskom.

Vara said Makhanda was plagued by cable thieves.

"As soon as we fix one spot [where cables are cut], they are already busy in another spot," she said.

Vara said...