Several boreholes have been drilled as part of a major project in the Ugie area in the Eastern Cape, but as yet no water has flowed.
- Work on several boreholes in villages near Ugie in the Eastern Cape started in 2015.
- But more than 10 years later, no water is flowing from any of the boreholes.
- The project was partly funded by the Dutch government.
- According to the Joe Gqabi District Municipality, the delays are partly the result of difficult terrain and the complex approval processes involved in foreign funding.
Families in eNkalweni and surrounding villages near Ugie in the Eastern Cape say they have been waiting more than a decade for water, though a number of boreholes have been drilled in their communities.
The Joe Gqabi District Municipality began installing boreholes in the area in 2015. But 11 years later, residents say not a single one is supplying water.
At least 12 boreholes were installed between 2015 and 2019 after the municipality secured ORIO grant funding from the Netherlands government to provide water to rural villages in the Elundini Local Municipality.
According to the 2022/3 Integrated Development Plan, the project has a budget of about R230-million. The project is expected to benefit 113 villages, according to a 2016 Elundini Local Municipality newsletter.
The scope of work includes building pump houses, installing pumps, electrifying boreholes, constructing pipelines, storage tanks, reticulation networks, and communal standpipes.
A report to Parliament in September 2024 shows that only R18-million had been spent.
Asked why it was taking so long, municipal spokesperson Buli Mgojo said while the project concept dated back to the 2014/15 financial year, significant preparatory work had been required before implementation could start. This included alignment with the requirements of ORIO funding, and the appointment of specialists including land surveyors, geotechnical and geohydrological experts, and environmental consultants.
Also, Mgojo said, the ORIO funding model required approval at each stage of procurement.
Because of the scale and complexity of the tender, the internal governance process had also involved extensive due diligence and engagements, which had contributed to delays, she said.
Mgojo said some of the terrain was difficult, with complicated access.
Meanwhile, frustration is growing among residents.
During a visit to the area last month, GroundUp was shown several boreholes, none of them working. No taps had yet been installed.
Community leader Babalo Noholoza said residents had been left in the dark.
“Since last year we have been waiting for a contractor. We were told there would be jobs and opportunities for small businesses, but nothing has happened,” said Noholoza. “All we get are empty promises,” he said.
“I don’t understand why we don’t have water after so many boreholes were installed,” said resident Thethile Ramba. “My 84-year-old mother has to walk more than 500 metres to fetch water from the river. Because of the hills, it feels much further.”
He said residents they share water with animals and struggle, especially in the summer months.
“We are told there are millions for this project, but there is no action,” said Ramba.
Mgojo confirmed that while boreholes have been drilled and show good yield and water quality, they are not yet connected to a functioning network.
She said the municipality had completed the process of appointing a contractor and had submitted documents to the Netherlands government for approval in February.
“In the interim, the municipality continues to implement relief measures, including water tankering and temporary storage solutions,” she said.
© 2026 GroundUp. This article is published under the GroundUp Republication Licence Version 1.0. Email [email protected] to request permission to republish.
The #EndGenderBasedViolence campaign seeks to raise awareness and combat violence against women and children.
Indestructible Potato
A baby was born in South Africa. The village was very poor, and the makeshift hospital didn\’t have some necessary equipment.. such as scales.
The father however, was desperate to know the newborn baby\’s weight. After quite a bit of asking around, the hospital\’s chairman came up with an idea.
\”Five miles west, there\’s a butcher shop. The owner deals with meat, he should have a rather precise scale. You could just put your baby on the meat scale, and the weight reading you\’ll get should be pretty accurate.\”
And so the father departed westward. After much walking, with his newborn child cardled safely in his arms, he finally arrived at the butcher shop. He explained his dilemma to the shop owner, to witch the latter replied:
\”Don\’t worry, friend. It\’s not even a problem, I\’ll check it for you, free of charge.\” And so he took the child to the back, where the scale was located.
The father heard rumbling noises, and some scraping.. About a minute later the butcher came back.
\”About three pounds boneless\” He said.
Slow Trot
A British man on safari walks into a bar far out in the reaches of a game reserve in Southern Africa, he stays at the bar for a while shooting the shit with the bartender and drinking like a fish, he offer to buy the barkeep a round and since no one else is within 2km of their small oasis of liquor the barkeep obliges. The englishman goes off to the bathroom to have a good old go at the porcelain, he\’s back and ready for a few more whiskeys. He\’s just sat down when suddenly in the distance he hears a scream. He looks over his shoulder and dismisses it as nothing, he turns to the barkeep and orders a drink, takes a sip and hears the scream again. He looks at the barkeep who just shrugs it off. A minute or two later he and the barman hear it again and go outside to take a look. They see a lone figure running towards them screaming, he spots them and lets out a cry, RUN!!!!! HE\”S COMING!!!!!
The barkeep and the Englishman both look at the terrified bedraggled sight before them, and try to calm him down, but he\’s completely inconsolable. They give him water and finally manage to get a word out of him but he struggles free from their grasp and run away screaming.
A few minutes later the same thing happens with a whole group of men running in and screaming, he\’s coming, he\’s coming the barkeep grabs hold of one of the men as he tries to sprint past the bar and tries to get information out of him, again no response other than terrified gibberish.
The barkeep and his customer are starting to get worried, they start to pack up before another group of horrified natives run up to the bar most of them flee but one tries to hide behind the bar, the barkeep pulls out a shotgun and points it at the terrified man\’s face, finally managing to coax some words out of him. \”He\’s coming for us, Vernon Koekemoer is coming for us, we have to hide!!! We have to get out of here.\” He gets up and tries to run but the barkeep grabs him, feeling trapped in a panic he grabs the barkeeps shotgun and blows his own head off. The Englishman and the barkeep look at each other starting to really panic now.
They look out of the window and off in the distance they see a tornado coming towards the bar, at the bottom of the tornado they see the hugest beast of a man they have ever seen, as he gets closer they spot that he is riding a rhinocerous and using a crocodile as a riding whip, with each smack of the crocodile across the back of the rhino the louder is screams and the faster it runs, the tornado following it getting ever larger.
The 2 look at each other and start to fortify their position, they\’ve got a gun and they\’re waaay to drunk to run, so they start piling bar stool and tables and anything they can get their hands on to make sure they\’ll be safe when he arrives. They\’re not gonna make it, they can see the man slowing down his rhino, by now the crocodile is nothing but reptile paste on the bruised rump of the half dead rhino, the rhino drops down dead from exhaustion and crashes to the ground right outside the bar the tornado loses it\’s last breath in a cloud of dust as the huge man crashes his way through the make shift barricade and charges up towards the bar where the 2 men have taken shelter, he grabs a bottle of the hardest liquor on the shelf and down the entire litre in 1 gulp, he peers over the bar sobbing and sees the 2 defenders cowering down behind the crates of beer, they look up at the mans\’ face and he stares at them with a look of complete and utter hopelessness, he stares at them for a half second and half screams, half sobs, \”Oh my god what are you still doing here!!! WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW!!!! Vernon Koekemoer is coming!!!!\”