Proposed Level 2 Water Restrictions – The Result of Years of Infrastructure Neglect

The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) condemns the proposed level 2 water restrictions that the Langeberg Local Municipality (Ashton, Bonnievale, McGregor, Montagu, Robertson) intends to implement from 1 February 2026 and regards them as completely unnecessary, counterproductive, and clear proof of poor planning and years of infrastructure neglect.

The Municipality cites poor rainfall and empty dams as the reason, but in reality, the Langeberg Municipality primarily abstracts its water from the Breede River – a reliable source capable of supplying sufficient water.

In truth, the crisis stems from an undersized and inadequate pump at the Gumgrove Water Treatment Plant, which cannot pump enough water, as well as several other pumps that have broken down – including the Montagu pump that has been out of order for two months.

To make matters worse, ageing and damaged water pipes burst regularly, causing enormous water losses, while no meaningful maintenance or upgrades have taken place over the past 15 years, despite engineering reports and recommendations, which have simply been ignored since 2011.

Emergency repair work that began in November 2025 remains incomplete, mainly due to non-payment of contractors even though there are sufficient funds available in the budget.

The fact that scheduled irrigation water supply was resumed for a week proves that there is indeed enough water available. It is simply not being pumped effectively to residents.

Water safe for human consumption is now being diverted to irrigation while residents are needlessly punished with restrictions, such as a ban on watering gardens and sports fields and fines for consumption above 15 kilolitres per month. The same restrictions apply even in areas such as Ashton and Montagu, which experience no water shortages.

These measures are not only unfair to residents, but also seriously threaten the local economy, particularly the agricultural sector, including wine cellars, and business sector.

The Freedom Front Plus already submitted a comprehensive report with workable proposals to the mayor and administration, but nothing has come of it.

In the report, the party demands that the following emergency measures be implemented immediately:

• Upgrading and replacing pumps where necessary to stabilise water supply.
• Repairing all broken pumps that are weakening the system’s capacity.
• Additional boreholes to ensure greater water security for the community.
• Maintenance work on the Dassieshoek Dam and other dams to restore capacity and reliability.
• Cleaning outlet valves at dams to improve water flow and prevent blockages.
• Implementing the overlooked engineering recommendations that have been on the table since 2011, but have never been put into effect.

The Freedom Front Plus will keep taking constructive action and tabling workable proposals to prevent poor service delivery and further decay in Langeberg.

FF+ Manifesto on Good governance: Ensuring effective and efficient governance.

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