Oudtshoorn’s Cango Caves Now Water Wise

18 Sep 2019 in Where We Govern

Water scarcity is nothing new to the Klein Karoo, but with the additional pressure of the ongoing drought, the DA-led Oudtshoorn municipality has had to innovate to ensure the survival of one of South Africa’s most loved tourist attractions: the Cango Caves.

The municipality commission the R2,5 million wastewater treatment plant to address the ongoing water problems at the popular site. It contributed R1,5 million from its own capital budget and the remainder was funded by the Western Cape provincial government.

The DA-led municipality is the first local government to have a plant of this kind which will purify wastewater on the premises to re-use for the flushing of the newly constructed toilet block and the irrigation of the gardens.

The commissioning of the plant formed part of the DA-led local and provincial governments’ efforts to turn around the fortunes of the Cango Caves which had been under threat of closure because of poor management and financial difficulties.

From 2013 to 2016 the caves operated at a loss and fewer than 150 000 people a year were visiting the site. In September last year, the provincial government announced that in 2018 the caves made a net profit of R1.27 million and the visitor numbers had increased substantially.

The recycling of the water will reduce the demand for potable water to the Cango Caves by approximately 3,6 million litres per year. Another advantage of this plant is that its maintenance costs and power consumption is extremely low.

In addition to the new wastewater treatment plant, the facility will also receive toilet upgrades, a new restaurant and other improvements to the building.

It just goes to show what stable governance, dedicated budgets and better management can achieve.