Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister Sello Seitlholo has condemned the Kai !Garib Local Municipality in the Northern Cape for failing to implement remedial measures aimed at addressing persistent deficiencies in its water and sanitation services.
The criticism follows the release of the latest Blue Drop and Green Drop regulatory assessments by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), which indicated that the municipality's water and sanitation services have regressed to a critical state, despite repeated non-compliance notices issued by the department directing the municipality to correct the situation.
Seitlholo visited the municipality on Friday, 29 May, to engage municipal leadership and assess progress in implementing remedial actions previously submitted to the department to address the poor performance.
Kai !Garib Municipality is a Water Services Authority, responsible for water supply services and wastewater management in the towns of Kakamas, Keimoes, Kenhardt and Vredesvallei.
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The municipality relies primarily on the Orange River and a canal managed by the Kakamas Water User Association as the main water source supplying water supply systems and water storage ponds located at the existing water treatment works (WTW).
The canal originates from a weir alongside Orange River in a small settlement of Marchand, and serves both municipal water systems and irrigation activities, particularly the vineyards around Kakamas.
However, the municipality has a long-standing history of non-compliance in the provision of water and sanitation services and has made limited progress in addressing the identified shortcomings.
According to the DWS assessments, the municipality's 2023 Blue Drop score has dropped significantly to 16.20%, down from 71.42% in 2014. All 16 of its water supply systems are now classified within the critical performance category.
Wastewater services have deteriorated even further, with the municipality's 2024 Green Drop score fell to 0.3%, compared to 13% in 2021 and 34% in 2013. Wastewater treatment plants in Keimoes and Kenhardt recorded scores of 0.0%, while the Vredesvallei wastewater treatment plant has remained out of operation for more than three years.
The municipality has also failed to implement adequate measures to prevent persistent sewage overflows from manholes, dysfunctional pump stations, stormwater systems and oxidation ponds across the four towns. The continued deterioration of this infrastructure has resulted in contamination of local watercourses, posing severe public health and environmental hazards.
In response to the aging infrastructure at the Kakamas water and wastewater treatment works that have exceeded their operational lifespan, the Department of Water and Sanitation allocated more than R12 million through the Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG) for the refurbishment of the Kakamas Water Treatment Works. A further R7 million was provided for upgrades to the Vredesvallei Wastewater Treatment Works. Both projects were completed in December 2025.
The municipality has also submitted a feasibility study to the department in 2023 proposing the construction of a new wastewater treatment works in Kakamas, and a bulk water supply system intended to serve Kakamas, surrounding villages and commercial farming operations.
During his visit, Seitlholo inspected the oxidation ponds in Kakamas and instructed the municipality to develop and implement an urgent corrective action plan. The plan must outline the specific areas of failures, corrective activities to be undertaken by the municipality, provide technical upgrade and restoration plans and progress reports for the restoration or upgrades of identified critical wastewater systems, and include implementation timelines and the expected improvements.
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"Water and sanitation services in Kai !Garib municipality have reached critical state, and the reality is that this municipality requires joint interventions from the Departments of Water and Sanitation and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. The intervention should also be done as per the reforms that were proposed at the Water and Sanitation Indaba held in 2025.
"I have ordered the municipality to submit their corrective action plans before end of June, and we will continue to monitor the situation. We hope that the municipality will work within the timelines that will be able to restore the infrastructure that will provide clean drinking water and dignified sanitation to the communities," the Deputy Minister said.
