Many Port Alfred residents have been without water for almost a week due to the failure of ageing infrastructure and a lack of maintenance on the pipelines supplying the town.
The residents said it was playing havoc with every aspect of their lives, from schooling to healthcare and business.
Earlier this week, Ndlambe infrastructure deputy director Thulani Maluleka and water and sanitation supervisor Enoch Jobela said several issues had prolonged the problem.
According to Maluleka, the problem began on Friday, when a power failure at the substation driving the water pumps necessitated turning the main valve off, cutting off water supply to the Port Alfred area.
When the power was restored, the dams had to be refilled and the main valve reopened, but this increased the pressure on the system and several pipes or connections burst.
Water problems have been the norm in the Ndlambe municipal area for years and 2018, especially, saw frequent outages – lasting for days – affecting all high-lying areas in Port Alfred, including Nemato, the west bank and east bank.
Kenton-on-Sea has also been on severe water restrictions and other areas such as Alexandria have had to endure days, and often weeks, without water in the past.
Six years ago, the Eastern Cape government appointed Amatola Water to establish and enact plans to alleviate the situation.
Residents are angry about what they perceive as the inability of the municipality to fix the problem quickly.
They claim the municipality has not sent water tankers into the worst-affected areas, specifically the east and west bank, and many of the residents have had to rely on rainwater tanks – which emptied quickly.
School toilets could also not be used.
Kuyasa Combined School principal Xolani Mayana said it might not be able to open until the water was restored.
Laura Guest, the Port Alfred High School’s manager of marketing, alumni and development, said the school was coping, for now, due to the efforts of the Red Alert company and its estate management team.
“We have asked our pupils to bring hand sanitiser to school,” she said.
Tertiary institutions such as Stenden also rely heavily on municipal water.
Stenden’s Lindy Hulley said its students were having to do without water and the situation was becoming critical.
Port Alfred Business Forum chair Marius Claassens said rainwater tanks were beginning to run dry.
“Hotels and guest houses are having to refuse bookings and other businesses are losing money as they are forced to turn customers away,” he said.
Sunshine Coast Tourism manager Sandy Birch said she had received reports from bedand-breakfast establishments and hotels that might need to close if the situation remained unresolved.
Port Alfred Hospital clinical services manager Marianne Stiglingh, said: “Port Alfred Hospital is dependent on a reliable municipal water supply.
“However, the hospital maintains sufficient water reserves in on-site water tanks to ensure continuity of services during short-term water outages, such as in the current situation.”