A R46m borehole project, rendered inoperable by theft and vandalism, is just one example of how Nelson Mandela Bay’s water infrastructure is slowly crumbling and putting immense strain on the city’s dwindling water supply. Three years ago, in the midst of a crippling water crisis, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality spent R46-million to extract drinking water from under St George’s Park. Now, with the looming threat of taps running dry once again on the metro’s doorstep, the project is dead in the water — rendered inoperable by rampant theft and vandalism.
And while city officials are losing the fight against damaged infrastructure and water leaks, the local government’s political opposition placed the blame on the ruling party, saying poor management and a lack of regular maintenance had led to the dire situation. On Wednesday, 28 January, the DA announced that it had written to the national Department of Water and Sanitation to revoke the municipality’s bulk water competency for the Kromme water supply line because of continuous overextraction and poor management of the resource. In 2023, Nelson Mandela Bay spent millions of rands on water supply augmentation projects, which allowed the city to narrowly avoid Day Zero, when taps were expected to run dry.
At the lowest point, the dams supplying water to Nelson Mandela Bay dipped below 7% of their combined capacity. Three years later, with dam levels once again dwindling fast — currently sitting at 36.8% — projects like the St George’s Park Wellfield are not supplying anywhere near their intended targets. In fact, the St George’s project, which should be adding two million litres of water to the city’s reservoirs daily, has not extracted a drop of water since August 2024.
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The wellfield comprises boreholes designed to draw water from beneath the park and transport it to a water treatment facility for purification. From there, it was stored in a reservoir under the Prince Alfred’s Guard Memorial, and a large pump station then distributed the water to suburbs including Central, Humewood and South End. The facility was shut down in August 2024 so maintenance could be carried out on the ageing reservoir.
However, parts of the facility fell prey to theft and vandalism, and it has not been operational since. In recent months, additional security measures, including electric fencing, were installed. However, the full extent of the damage to the facility and what it will cost to bring it back online are unclear. “The municipality is clearly not up to the task of managing water provision and infrastructure,” said DA MP and the party’s mayoral candidate, Retief Odendaal.
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