Water restriction-stretched Nelson Mandela Bay residents will have to put their smiles on hold.
Despite infrastructure and engineering political head Andile Lungisa saying on Friday that an announcement on a way forward with water tariffs would be made on Monday that “will put a smile on ratepayers’ faces”, the day came with no good news just yet.
Any announcement to relax water tariffs in the wake of good rains and rising dam levels has been put on hold until the Bay’s political leadership receives a report on the dam levels from department of water and sanitation officials.
“It’s not as simple as changing tariffs – we’re still doing assessments and [then] we’ll make the announcement,” Lungisa said on Monday.
Asked why he had said a statement would be made on Monday, Lungisa backtracked, saying all he had said was that an announcement would be made early this week.
“It’s still early and we’ll meet on Tuesday,” he said.
However, municipal spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki said no announcement would be made as yet.
With the levels of the Bay’s main supply dams now at a combined average of 47.2% – up from 17.95% at the end of August – Mniki said the municipality was taking a measured approach when considering the restrictions going forward.
SA Weather Service Port Elizabeth spokesperson Garth Sampson has said no rain is expected in the immediate future and that the seasonal forecast is for below-normal rainfall for the period up to December.
He said the recent heavy rains were a result of a cut-off low in the upper atmosphere.
The chances of this happening again later in the year were very low.
“Cut-off lows most frequently occur between March and September,” Sampson said.
“So, as a rule of thumb, we will have to wait until next year [from March onwards] for any good chance of a similar event.”