Day 13 of Despatch water crisis culminates in brawls, legal threats and pleas for aid

As the towns of Despatch and parts of Kariega in Nelson Mandela Bay entered their 12th day of an extensive water outage on Wednesday, ward councillor Frans Swanepoel wrote an angry letter. 

Referring to the water outage, he said: “This has resulted in a humanitarian crisis of significant proportions. To date, the municipality has taken neither adequate steps to prevent and mitigate the suffering of residents, nor has it implemented any sufficient relief measures, such as the deployment of water trucks.”

Swanepoel gave them a few hours to respond and threatened that he would then proceed with criminal charges against them. 

At 2pm on Thursday, the metro released a statement that they were “working around the clock to fully restore water distribution in parts of Kariega and Despatch following pipeline failures that resulted in a complete water supply interruption”.

“Water restoration in parts of Despatch, Reservoir Hills and Joe Slovo began overnight, and is continuing steadily. Our technical teams are still troubleshooting in the Chatty Zone to ensure there are no further system failures.

“Residents in the affected areas can expect water supply to be restored as the day progresses,” the statement continued.

Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Infrastructure and Engineering, Councillor Buyelwa Mafaya said her office was on the ground with different teams to make sure water was restored in all areas. 

“Some areas are already sorted and we will not rest until all areas are covered. We would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused by the water cuts,” said Mafaya. 

As the extensive water outage stretched into its 13th day in places, desperate residents called in Gift of the Givers to help and the organisation sent water trucks from Adelaide.

In the impoverished neighbourhood of Daleview, residents stood in line in the blazing heat to fill containers with water for their households. Tempers flared and arguments over places in line nearby deteriorated into physical altercations.

Nyven Kietas (31) said he took a beating earlier in the week after being accused of cutting in line at another water tanker.

“I was waiting in line like everyone else when a woman started pushing and shoving me, saying I jumped the line. She punched me in the face and I could do nothing, because I can’t hit a woman.”

Standing with his three-year-old son Nyven Williams, Kietas said he has to make the trip to the water tankers twice a day because he only has two buckets.

“My girlfriend needs to cook and clean, my daughter needs a clean school uniform. One trip to the tankers is for cooking and drinking; the next trip is for washing and flushing the toilet.

“And the kids don’t understand. Try telling a three-year-old why nothing happens when he opens the tap. It is extremely frustrating,” said Kietas.

Standing in line next to him was Belinda Jantjies (52), who came to fetch water to wash her daughter’s school uniform.

“These kids are writing exams. This is unnecessary stress for them to worry about clean clothes.”

She said they were without water for five days before the first tankers arrived. The community was not informed about the water outage and still have no clue what caused it.

“I had to buy bottled water just for us to drink. Luckily, the tankers are here now. But how long do we have to struggle like this? When will the problem be resolved?”

Nearby, the Oosterland Youth Centre, a place of safety for children, has been taking care of their 104 children and 42 staff members, some of whom also stay on the property permanently, with no end to the water outage in sight.

“Today [Thursday] is Day 13 without water and, to this day, we have received no explanation for the outage. If we knew what was wrong, maybe we could understand, but we are completely in the dark,” said Oosterland director Chantelle Jonker.

She said laundry has been piling up for 12 days as the little tank water they have left goes towards their ablutions. All drinking and cooking water has been trucked in by water tankers from Gift of the Givers and the municipality.

“We are a place of safety for vulnerable children and we cannot provide for their basic needs. Staff morale is at an all-time low. 

“Many of our staff stay nearby, so even when they go home, they still don’t have water.”

However, Jonker said the crisis has shown them the caring nature of their community, as they have received several donations of water and equipment to help them during the challenging time.

“Someone even donated a pump so that we can divert water from our kitchen tanks to the bathrooms. Our community has been good to us and we cannot thank them enough.”

Gift of the Givers’ Ali Sablay said they have deployed three water tankers in the area and coordinate the distribution of water with the help of community leaders on the ground. 

“The dire circumstances have led to scenes of desperation, with residents rushing to the tankers as soon as they arrive. Some even climb aboard before the vehicles can even come to a complete stop.

“Local schools, clinics, children’s homes and other institutions have reached out to our teams for assistance. Our dedicated staff and volunteers are working around the clock to meet the growing needs of the affected communities,” said Sablay.

He also thanked Isuzu South Africa for playing an active role in the ongoing relief efforts.

In a separate letter to the council speaker, Eugene Johnson, the Freedom Front Plus councillor Bill Harrington said: “Persistent infrastructure failures, aging pipelines and poor maintenance planning within the municipal administration have significantly worsened the situation.

“As a member of this council and representative of the Freedom Front Plus, I urgently request that this matter be placed on the agenda for the next council meeting (8 December),” he said. 

He said the current coalition government must take decisive steps to present a clear action plan to restore water security across the Metro, with specific attention to Despatch and Kariega; reassess budget priorities to strengthen maintenance and infrastructure repair programmes; and improve transparency and communication with residents through regular updates on reservoir levels, supply schedules and restoration progress.

Harrington added that emergency water deliveries via tankers must be managed effectively and equitably until a sustainable solution is in place.

“Nelson Mandela Bay cannot continue operating under a constant state of water distress,” he added. “The right to water is fundamental to human dignity, health and economic stability.” DM