Municipality accused of unfair allocation of water to Coffee Bay residents

Taps have been dry in the coastal town of Coffee Bay for the past 10 months, forcing the OR Tambo District Municipality to send in tankers to provide clean water to residents. But now a resident has accused the district municipality of prioritising those who own and run businesses in the area. Trevor Acton, a Coffee Bay music teacher, claimed some ordinary residents like him had been fetchingwaterfrom the Nenga River, which they shared with livestock.

He claimed the water was not fit for human consumption. “They make sure they deliver [clean water] to restaurants and other people who have their own businesses here,” Acton said. “There is no central water tank where everyone can getwaterbrought by the tankers.

“As a result, ordinary citizens like me have had to fetchwaterfrom the river all these months. “It is even worse because donkeys, horses, cows and other animals go to the same river to drink.” Acton moved to the small Wild Coast town in the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality in about 2023 to teach music and is renting accommodation in the area. He said their situation was compounded by the fact that taxi drivers were washing their taxis in the same river, and often the water had soap in it. I once forgot to boil it and had a runny tummy for about a week The authorities initially told them that poor rainfall in 2025 had led to the taps running dry.