Water in Bonkolo Dam is below abstraction level

People in Komani in the Eastern Cape have welcomed the help of Gift of the Givers delivering water. The humanitarian aid organisation arrived on Tuesday with four water tankers and bottled water donated by Cerebos. They were welcomed by smiling residents. JoJo Tanks has donated 17 5,000-litre tanks.

Since October, the town has been facing severe water challenges. The Bonkolo Dam level is below abstraction point, and the Waterdown Dam does not meet demand.

The lack of water has affected clinics and hospitals. Lucky Ngemntu, governing board member for Kwakomani Senior Secondary School, said the school's water has been off since October. As a result, the school has to close at noon every day.

On Monday, Chris Hani District Mayor Lusanda Sizani held a public meeting in Mlungisi stadium after residents marched to his office to demand water. He told them the R246-million Xonxa project will be completed this year. It was meant to be completed in 2018.

Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman said water trucks will be filled at the municipal water treatment plant. He said the district municipality had requested assistance with 40 water tanks, drilling new boreholes, and equipping existing boreholes. He said water quality was an issue and filtration plants increased the costs substantially.

"Our hydrologists are at work surveying rock formations," he said.

This is not the first time Gift of the Givers has come to relieve Komani. It did so with the 2019 and 2021 water crises, the Covid pandemic and the 2022 floods.

Community leader Axolile Masiza said the water delivered by the municipal trucks was "dirty and had a bad smell". "Now that Gift of the Givers is here, we want the municipality trucks to stop delivering water, and the money used to hire those trucks must be channelled to finding a permanent solution."

He also claimed water was given preferentially, "mostly to individuals who are friends with the municipal officials".

Regarding the allegations of individuals receiving preferential water, Mayor Sizani said there was a complaint that businesses in the townships were closing due to lack of water, while those in the town were operating. He said to assist businesses they decided to deliver water to those businesses. He denied that individuals received water.