Nelson Mandela Bay water crisis sparks push for independent probe

After weeks of crippling water outages across Nelson Mandela Bay — including one suburb where residents allegedly went without water for 21 days because a valve had been turned the wrong way — councillors have backed a proposal to appoint an independent panel of experts to investigate the metro’s escalating infrastructure crisis.

Communities in Kariega, Motherwell, Despatch, the northern areas and parts of Gqeberha’s western suburbs have experienced repeated water disruptions in recent weeks, with some residents reporting outages lasting days — and in some cases weeks.

The growing public anger is expected to spill on to the streets on Wednesday, when DA mayoral candidate Retief Odendaal leads a march of affected Kariega residents to city hall to demand urgent intervention after flooding and infrastructure failures left parts of the town without water and electricity for weeks.

The proposed independent panel, tabled through a motion before the metro’s infrastructure and engineering committee, would investigate the underlying causes of the outages and recommend interventions to stabilise the city’s deteriorating water system.

FOR CONTEXT

Nelson Mandela Bay floods expose infrastructure strain — 101 complaints logged in three days

May 13, 2026

Odendaal gave the metro 72 hours from Saturday to resolve issues in the area to prevent protest action by the residents. Parts of Kariega still don’t have water.

In ward 8, parts of Lorraine and Kamma Park were without water for three weeks (21 days) before the floods hit.

After an inspection on 16 May, the city’s water works unit allegedly discovered that one of the valves supplying the area had been turned the wrong way, restricting water flow to hundreds of households.

Ward 8 councillor Gustav Rautenbach, who submitted the motion, said the discovery raised serious concerns about how long residents had been left without water before the problem was identified. He said it also emphasised the need for the appointment of the independent panel.

“For 21 days, water works cannot find the fault and I don’t know why. We need an urgent intervention to address the problem. There’s something else wrong than just the floods that hit because this water outage started before the floods,” Rautenbach told the council earlier this month.

In his motion dated 16 March, Rautenbach indicated that the city had been experiencing daily water disruptions due to failures in the electricity power lines.

For the past couple of weeks, Nelson Mandela Bay metro has been hit by daily water outages as a result of power failures.

“Thousands of angry and frustrated residents and business owners, rightly so, do not accept the reasons, or rather the excuses, provided by the municipality. If it is not one reason, then another is given,” he wrote.

“The latest is the reduced water we can get from Nooitgedagt (water treatment works), as well as the higher water usage from residents. It is always more or less the same explanation, with no timeframe as to when this will be resolved. Our residents and business owners deserve better, and the truth.”

Rautenbach recommended that:

• An independent panel of experts be appointed to investigate the real reasons for the metro experiencing extensive water outages;
• The independent panel makes recommendations on how to resolve the identified issues; and
• The panel’s report, and its findings and recommendations, be tabled at the next council meeting.

Acting executive director for infrastructure and engineering Joseph Tsatsire said the motion had not been previously entertained because it had financial implications.

“We all know what the rule is regarding motions, and this is not to say [that] what the motion wants should not be considered. Perhaps it can be amended to indicate that it should be directed to the office of the city manager for discussion.”

The motion was therefore amended and adopted, subject to being referred to the office of the city manager for officials to discuss it, including the financial implications.

Speaking on Tuesday, Rautenbach said he submitted the motion because he noticed how many communities battled with water disruptions with no permanent solution from the city.

“This is not to say the city’s water team is incompetent; it is to find a solution so that residents and businesses don’t suffer any further than what they have already endured. This water problem is across the city from Motherwell up to Kariega, and it is very frustrating.”

On the outage in his ward, Rautenbach said that after he made a plea to the council, he and the water team conducted an inspection of the valves and were surprised to learn what the issue was.

“We found that one of the water valves, meant to be turned anti-clockwise, was turned the wrong way. So all the guys did was to turn it the other way. I then asked residents to check their taps, and there was water. This is the issue that resulted in hundreds of residents suffering for 21 days. Hence, the appointment of the independent panel will benefit the whole city.” DM