Eastern Cape Water Projects Dries Up Despite R62 Million Spent

Over the span of seven years, over R62-million has been expended on a critically essential water project in Libode ward 16 area, located 30km east of Mthatha in the rural Eastern Cape region of South Africa. Despite the substantial investment, the remote villagers of Ntendele and Mondlovini continue to struggle with the absence of clean, drinkable water.

Construction work on the pivotal reticulation infrastructure began in 2016, as reported by community leader Mandla Jali. Following successful completion of a 7.5 km pipeline installation by Nangamso Civils, Thalami Civils stepped in, implementing a water reticulation system for Mandlovini and Tendele villages. Amid additional contractors operating on the project was Jamjo Civils, which was observed building a tank, though has remained unresponsive to our enquiries.

Seeing recently installed standpipes and taps, villagers hoped for water access soon. But, those hopes were dashed as the taps were swiftly removed to prevent theft in the absence of a bulk water supply, and the disappointing silence from municipality officials ensued.

Responsible for the critical water treatment work, Amatola Water continuously referred our inquiries back to OR Tambo District Municipality, resulting in a stagnant cycle of unresolved concerns and unanswered queries. Despite claims of ongoing construction at the Rosedale/Highbury site water treatment facility, our visit revealed no evidence of any active work.

For villagers of Mkhankatho, access to water still requires painstaking hauls from the nearby streams. Despite the murky condition of one stream, villagers are left with no alternative for securing this life-sustaining resource in the stuck bureaucratic limbo of the water project.