The Kouga dam will be at 5,6% of capacity by the end of June. Of this total 3,1% is dead capacity and cannot be extracted from the dam. This will be disastrous for the residents of the Kouga Municipality and farmers in the Gamtoos River Valley.

The DA is demanding that the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro stops extracting water from the Kouga dam.

The following steps can be taken to counteract the shortfall created by not extracting water from the Kouga dam:

Demand reduction;

Pressure reduction;

Maximum extraction from the Nooitgedacht Scheme.

Nelson Mandela Bay’s daily water consumption is exceptionally high. The Metro should use no more than 250 megalitres per day – but by March 2020 the daily consumption had increased to 329 megalitres.

The main reason for this is the municipality’s total lack of communication when it comes to public awareness regarding the water crisis.

Residents must also be made aware of the fact that the NMB Metro has a Plan B in terms of the water crisis. Plan B refers the building or upgrading of water infrastructure to ensure that water from the Nooitgedacht Scheme can also be reticulated to the Western and Southern regions of NMB. These projects were never embarked on and these regions will run dry the moment the Metro ceases to extract water from the dams. This could lead to these areas being without tap water for months on end.

The DA’s action plan to mitigate the water crisis entails:

The Metro must make emergency budget veriments in order for these infrastructure projects to be funded and completed.

The Municipality must embark on emergency procurement processes to ensure that contracts are awarded and work commences.

We will request civil society to join us in our call for immediate action. If the Western and Southern regions of the Metro run dry, it will decimate what is left of our economy.

Issues with SMMEs are the main reason the project to provide additional capacity to the Nooitgedacht Sceme from the Canal in the Sundays River Valley is at a standstill. The DA will write to the Department of Water Affairs to request that it intervenes in this regard.

Water supply to all schools should be disconnected. There are hundreds of leaks and many running toilets in unmaintained schools across the Metro. All schools are closed. The supply can be reconnected when schools reopen.

We must start preparing hospitals for the worst. All hospitals in the Western and Southern areas – such as Livingstone, Port Elizabeth Provincial, Netcare Greenacres and Life S Georges – must be advised to install ground water supply systems.

Council must request that the DWA immediately provide additional water tankers and Jojo tanks to Nelson Mandela Bay.

Council must request urgent advice from national treasury on measures to prevent the forfeiture of the R200-million Drought Mitigation Funding.

The municipality must immediately appoint additional plumbers and/or contractors to attend to the 7000 water leaks in the Metro.

Council must immediately make funds available to have the barge on the Impofu dam functional within 5 weeks.