Note to Editors: Please find attached soundbites in English and Afrikaans by Retief Odendaal MPL and pictures here, here and here from a press conference hosted at Gqeberha City Hall.
- The DA has submitted a water dossier to the NMB Mayor, Minister of Water and Sanitation, MEC for COGTA and SAHRC.
- Nelson Mandela Bay’s water system is in collapse.
- The DA is calling for national intervention to restore reliable water to Nelson Mandela Bay.
The Democratic Alliance has submitted a dossier detailing the extent of the water crisis in Nelson Mandela Bay to Mayor Babalwa Lobishe, the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina, the Eastern Cape MEC for COGTA, Zolile Williams, and the South African Human Rights Commission.
I have also written to the Mayor and Acting City Manager to impress on them the urgency of addressing the crisis and highlighted immediate interventions.
We have directed numerous communications to the mayor throughout this crisis. Since 14 January I have written to Minister Majodina no less than 11 times to request her urgent intervention. Despite these efforts our requests are falling on deaf ears.
Water is life, but residents of certain areas in this city have been without access to water for months due to the failures of the Nelson Mandela Bay’s ANC/EFF-led Coalition of Chaos.
From 7 May the Metro issued 57 notices on its official Facebook page alone, dealing with water disruptions and outages.
On any given day, an estimated 100,000 residents are left without water even though the Metro’s dams are currently overflowing. This crisis is not one of water availability, but of failing infrastructure, inadequate maintenance, and severe shortages of technical capacity.
The Water Services Department is reportedly operating with a vacancy rate of approximately 64% for critical technical positions, including engineers, artisans, and plumbers. Without the necessary expertise, the Municipality cannot adequately maintain or repair its water infrastructure.
Serious concerns remain regarding the reduced production capacity at key water treatment works, the continued failure to bring costly groundwater projects back online, and a reticulation network plagued by more than 7,000 leaks.
Equally alarming is the City’s non-revenue water level of more than 60% during the 2024/25 financial year, compounded by the increasing use of unmetered “straight connections” that further undermine effective water management.
Urgent action is required to appoint a permanent Executive Director for Water Services, fill critical technical vacancies, restore offline borehole schemes, accelerate maintenance at treatment plants such as Nooitgedacht and Kabah, fast-track leak repairs, improve integration of the Metro’s water supply system, and table an updated Water Services Master Plan.
The Municipality needs to act now but does not have the competency to do so. It is for that reason that the national department must step in to urgently second experienced technical professionals to support the Metro in addressing this deepening water crisis.
This is no longer a service delivery crisis; it is a humanitarian crisis.
On 4 November residents can elect a DA government that will ensure reliable water provision to all residents to get Nelson Mandela Bay working again.