Villagers Work With Eastern Cape Municipality to Fix Water Supply

• About 33,000 people are meant to get drinking water from Amathole District Municipality’s Mncwasa Water Scheme. But since 2020, taps have often been dry.
• Equality Collective, an activist organisation based in the area, has been leading an initiative by villagers, traditional leaders and ward councillors to help the municipality fix the water scheme.
• In September 2024, the water scheme’s 31 reservoirs, on average, had water for 92% of the month, up from 41% in August 2022.

In 2020, a rural Eastern Cape community faced a water supply crisis. They had two options: take the Amathole District Municipality to court for not doing its job, or work with the municipality to restore the R125-million Mncwasa Water Scheme.

Recognising that suing a bankrupt municipality was unlikely to be effective, the community chose instead to collaborate with the municipality. By gathering data, bringing in experts, helping the municipality raise funds, and holding the municipality accountable, they are ensuring the success of the project.

Throughout this year, water availability has been steadily increasing. Although some reservoirs are performing better than others; in September 2024 the water scheme’s 31 reservoirs, on average, had water for 92% of the month, up from 41% in August 2022.

Every day, 32 volunteers recruited by Equality Collective, an activist organisation based in Nqileni village in Xhorha Mouth, visit the reservoirs to check if they are receiving water. The scheme has a central water treatment plant that pumps water from the Mncwasa dam to the 31 reservoirs. The water is then distributed to thousands of communal taps.

Simlindile Lamani, one of the volunteers, says that community members greet him with smiles every day, thanking him for his work. “People are happy that there is more water, and they are taking good care of the water and the taps,” Lamani says.

Equality Collective’s “right to water” coordinator Noluvo Mandukwini says that the improved access to clean water is expected to reduce the prevalence of water-borne diseases. Children are going to school more regularly because uniforms are washed, and girls who take on household duties spend less time collecting water.

The Mncwasa Water Scheme, built in 2015 at a cost of R125-million, was designed to supply drinking water to 33,000 people. However, due to poor maintenance, problems began to arise in 2020.

In response, Equality Collective formed a committee with traditional leaders, ward councillors, and community members to investigate the problems and help the municipality solve them.

In April 2021, six community members interviewed nearly 300 residents about their water supply. They found that more than half the households lacked water and over 80% of residents did not have water every day. Of those who did not have water every day, about 40% had been without water since the previous year.

The survey found broken taps, overflowing reservoirs next to empty ones, and leaks in the tanks which carry water from reservoirs to taps. They also found that residents rarely reported leaks, and that when they did report problems, the municipality only responded a third of the time.

Two engineers analysed the survey results and recommended repairs to the scheme. At least two pumps needed to be running for the scheme to function properly, but when GroundUp visited the scheme in 2022, only one was working.

When water does not reach the taps, residents rely on murky streams for cooking and cleaning.

Equality Collective supported Amathole District Municipality (ADM) in compiling a business plan to apply for the Water Services Infrastructure Grant from national Treasury. ADM spokesperson Sisa Msiwa said R5-million from the grant had been allocated for the Mncwasa project for 2024/25. The municipality used the whole of its water services infrastructure grant last year.

The refurbishments are being done by Mariswe Pty Ltd, which was appointed as the contractor in May 2023 and will remain involved until April 2026, according to Msiwa.

Two pumps are now operational, and the water treatment plant has been completely refurbished, says Equality Collective director Tess Peacock.

For the scheme to work properly, the official operating the scheme needs frequent data on how it is performing, Jim Gibson, one of the engineers who analysed the Equality Collective’s survey data, told GroundUp when we first reported on the water scheme in 2022.

“The reservoirs need to be actively kept in a hydraulic balance that ensures water reaches all reservoirs,” Gibson said. The scheme’s 31 reservoirs are interconnected. If one reservoir is overflowing, somewhere else in the network another reservoir might be empty.

But ADM was not monitoring the scheme on a daily basis. The data gathered by the 32 volunteers who manually check whether water is reaching the reservoirs, provide the crucial insights needed to efficiently run the scheme. Equality Collective compiles a detailed monthly report to Amathole District Municipality, which meticulously lays out the performance of the scheme and steps being taken by various roleplayers to improve performance.

Peacock says that residents are now much more likely to report leaks, and their complaints are being responded to more often. She says the community’s attitude towards ADM has shifted from hostility to constructive engagement, and ward councillors and traditional leaders understand how the scheme works and have enough information to hold the municipality to account and respond to the community’s concerns.

ADM spokesperson Msiwa says that Equality Collective’s involvement has been “instrumental in identifying and addressing problematic areas. Importantly, it has also fostered community awareness and encouraged a sense of ownership regarding the management of the water supply scheme.”

ADM is still bankrupt and received its second consecutive disclaimed audit for 2023/24, meaning the municipality’s books were in such disarray that the Auditor-General could not form an opinion on the audit.

For years, the municipality has been overspending its budget and its reserves have been depleted. It has been under administration since 2021. The municipality has been marred by political instability and labour disputes. The previous municipal manager allegedly faked his matric certificate and the position was vacant for more than a year.

But Peacock says the municipality’s governance issues are improving. A new municipal manager was appointed last year who has suitable qualifications and has already started to stabilise the municipality, Peacock says.

While the Mncwasa Water Scheme is now functioning better, other schemes in the municipality continue to struggle, especially in drought-affected areas. Equality Collective is working to expand its efforts to two more communities outside the Mncwasa scheme.

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