Author: Kathryn Cleary

By Kathryn Cleary and Sue Maclennan “Here in Makana, there is an outbreak of waterborne disease waiting to happen. It’s only a matter of time.” In November 2018, following two weeks of heated sessions in the Makana Council, the topic of Sun City remained up in the air. Despite having been submitted correctly, a motion of question on the informal settlement was twice excluded from the agendas of council meetings, leading to a furious DA staging successive walkouts and, in the backlash, the Speaker calling armed police into the Council chamber to remove senior DA councillors Mlindi Nhanha and Brian…

Businesses and NGOs are using their national muscle to urgently collect water for Makhanda (Grahamstown) as unexpected technical problems at both east and west supplies mean the city must drastically and immediately reduce its water use during the next two days. This comes as humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers announced a successful borehole sunk near Waainek Water Treatment Works, and its teams intensify deliveries of bottled water to areas affected by outages and interrupted supply. Damaged filters at James Kleynhans water treatment works mean the plant will be operating at half its capacity for the next two weeks and the Howieson’s Poort…

Late afternoon on 12 February an inspiring caravan made its way into Makhanda (Grahamstown). Green trucks emblazoned with the Gift of the Givers emblem emerged from the thick mist on the N2,  A total of six trucks and a handful of bakkies brought with them the promise of relief for residents – some who had been without water for up to nine days. The Gift of the Givers was notified of Makhanda’s water crisis last weekend and by Monday morning, trucks from Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg were loaded to the brim with bottles of water. Operational problems at James…

At the T-junction on the Kenton Road lies a small community that could fit on the back of a postage stamp. Salem might be quick to miss on a weekend drive to the coast, but the residents have had their own share of issues including water theft. Two residents who requested to remain anonymous, have experienced first-hand the consequences of this crime.  “People steal [the water].”, said one source. “We’ve had many reports in the last two months before the rain came that people were stealing the water.” The source described an incident at a nearby property where the pipe from…

It was a grey and misty Monday in Makhanda (Grahamstown) as clouds teased with the promise of rain, but learners in Makhanda’s government schools were left high and dry. For some schools, Monday marked their sixth day without water, and although schools are equipped with rainwater tanks, prolonged water shortages have lead to empty tanks. Grocott’s Mail visited township schools including Makana Primary, where 472 learners were sent home early as a result of no water. Nomsa Zono, Makana Primary’s Head of Department said that the water crisis started last week Wednesday. “It was too hot,” she said. “Kids were…

“In reality, the municipality doesn’t take the rural areas very seriously,” says Zola Mjadu. Mjadu lives in Seven Fountains, a community of about 240 shacks just off of the N2 towards Port Elizabeth. Thirty kilometres from Makhanda (Grahamstown), the area is surrounded by private game reserves and farmland. In a perfect world, the veld would be lush and the dams full, but as the Eastern Cape’s drought continues, perfection remains distant. Ironically, the day Grocott’s Mail visited the area our greatest concern was getting stuck in the mud. That’s right, mud – meaning that the rain was substantial enough to…

Like many Frontier towns, Alicedale’s water infrastructure is almost as old as the town. Residents frequently experience burst pipes and leaks; but in a time of drought, these small issues have a big impact. “Well, the system is old and antiquated,” said resident John Bateson. On the day Grocott’s Mail visited, the water was off in Alicedale due to a burst pipe. “We had probably three pipe bursts last week,” said Bateson. Alicedale’s water comes from the New Year’s dam; a large dam about six to seven kilometres long inside a local nature reserve. The dam is fed by the…

Eli Konstant and John Bateson manage a quaint bed and breakfast in Alicedale, Eastern Cape. Having lived there since 2006, the couple find comfort in the quiet natural beauty of the small town. Alicedale is home to the Bushman Sands Golf Estate; a top-notch Gary Player course and luxury hotel, pure bliss for the average tourist. But what should be a rural tourism oasis has become a nightmare; filled with unemployment, raw sewage and a gamble gone wrong. “Everybody is just tired of no food, no jobs, no hope – no, no, no, no,” said Konstant. Grocott’s Mail was told…

Riebeeck East is one of Frontier Country’s many small towns suffocated by drought. What used to be a flowering rustic village is now a dry ghost town, where residents are desperate for water. In December 2018 strict water rationing was put in place by Makana, limiting residents to two hours of water twice a day. “What’s happening is that they’re putting the water on at short intervals, and because there’s no pressure. Anybody higher up or further out, the water can’t get to,” said PR Councillor Cary Clark. Clark is a resident of Riebeeck East, and has been fighting the…

“It’s one thing when you can’t help yourself, but how can you deny an animal water,” said a tearful chicken farmer in Riebeeck East. Temperatures soared to 42 degrees Monday afternoon, red tinged dust swirled in the dry air as local farmers watched over their livestock. With the veld failing to provide food for animals, farmers have had no choice but to buy lucerne and other supplements. “The food is no problem”, said a sheep farmer, “it’s the water that’s the issue”. The two farmers, who requested to be anonymous, are neighbours in Riebeeck East. Despite sharing a laugh…