Nelson Mandela Bay under the pump as critical water infrastructure crumbles

Three years ago, in the midst of a crippling water crisis, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality spent R46-million to extract drinking water from under St George’s Park.

Now, with the looming threat of taps running dry once again on the metro’s doorstep, the project is dead in the water — rendered inoperable by rampant theft and vandalism.

And while city officials are losing the fight against damaged infrastructure and water leaks, the local government’s political opposition placed the blame on the ruling party, saying poor management and a lack of regular maintenance had led to the dire situation.

On Wednesday, 28 January, the DA announced that it had written to the national Department of Water and Sanitation to revoke the municipality’s bulk water competency for the Kromme water supply line because of continuous overextraction and poor management of the resource.

In 2023, Nelson Mandela Bay spent millions of rands on water supply augmentation projects, which allowed the city to narrowly avoid Day Zero, when taps were expected to run dry. At the lowest point, the dams supplying water to Nelson Mandela Bay dipped below 7% of their combined capacity.

Three years later, with dam levels once again dwindling fast — currently sitting at 36.8% — projects like the St George’s Park Wellfield are not supplying anywhere near their intended targets.

In fact, the St George’s project, which should be adding two million litres of water to the city’s reservoirs daily, has not extracted a drop of water since August 2024.

The wellfield comprises boreholes designed to draw water from beneath the park and transport it to a water treatment facility for purification. From there, it was stored in a reservoir under the Prince Alfred’s Guard Memorial, and a large pump station then distributed the water to suburbs including Central, Humewood and South End.

Maintenance

The facility was shut down in August 2024 so maintenance could be carried out on the ageing reservoir. However, parts of the facility fell prey to theft and vandalism, and it has not been operational since.

In recent months, additional security measures, including electric fencing, were installed. However, the full extent of the damage to the facility and what it will cost to bring it back online are unclear.

“The municipality is clearly not up to the task of managing water provision and infrastructure,” said DA MP and the party’s mayoral candidate, Retief Odendaal.

“The city has also failed to make effective use of water augmentation projects, such as the boreholes sunk at six wellfields, including St George’s Park, Coega Kop and Bushy Park. These six wellfields, constructed at a cost estimated at more than R700-million, were supposed to yield 27 megalitres of potable water per day.

“Instead, due to municipal incompetence, vandalism and theft, the boreholes were supplying only 10.1 megalitres per day in November 2025.”

Odendaal and Ward 1 councillor Dries van der Westhuyzen have detailed knowledge of the St George’s facility as it was commissioned during Odendaal’s tenure as the Bay’s mayor, and Van der Westhuyzen was the mayoral committee member for infrastructure and engineering.

Oversight visit

On Wednesday, 28 January, they conducted an oversight visit of the facility, which they said was only one example of the current government’s inability to manage its water resources.

“Nearly half of the city’s water is being lost through leaks, and there are currently more than 6,000 unresolved leaks across the city due to ageing pipes and crumbling infrastructure,” said Odendaal.

“According to Department of Water and Sanitation restrictions, Nelson Mandela Bay is only allowed to extract 60 megalitres of water from Impofu and Churchill [on the Kromme line] dams per day, but extraction over the December festive period went as high as 110 megalitres per day.

“That line is not for the sole use of NMB — the Kouga Municipality and the agricultural community are also dependent on that water supply.

“I have now written to Minister of Water and Sanitation Pemmy Majodina to request that the bulk water competency for the Kromme line be removed from the municipality, and awarded to a more competent authority.”

Odendaal said this authority could be the Gamtoos Irrigation Board, which manages the water distribution for the Kouga Dam, the largest supply dam on the NMB water network.

He said the DA sought to implement a comprehensive water services master plan to identify infrastructure that must be repaired or replaced, while filling critical vacancies and investing in technology to detect leaks and prevent water loss.

In November 2025, Daily Maverick approached municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya for comment on the condition of and plans for the St George’s Park Wellfield, but despite repeated follow-up queries, no response was forthcoming.

Municipal statement

However, following the DA’s visit to the facility on Wednesday, Soyaya broadly addressed ongoing service delivery across the metro.

“The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality wishes to place on record, clearly and unequivocally, that vandalism, theft and deliberate sabotage of municipal infrastructure are ongoing, well-documented challenges that are known to all councillors across the political spectrum, municipal leadership, and relevant law-enforcement stakeholders.

“These acts are not speculative, isolated, or newly discovered. They are routinely reported to council, reflected in operational and financial reports, and discussed at oversight, portfolio and executive levels. They affect electricity, water, sanitation, roads, public lighting and community facilities, with direct consequences for service delivery, public safety and municipal finances.

“While robust public scrutiny is both legitimate and necessary, the municipality cautions against selective or incomplete narratives that highlight service delivery disruptions without accurately acknowledging the root causes, including persistent vandalism and criminal interference with critical infrastructure.”

He said the municipality was taking steps to counter these issues, and that current interventions included strengthening security at critical infrastructure sites, collaboration with the police and law-enforcement agencies to investigate incidents and pursue prosecutions, the replacement of vulnerable infrastructure with more resilient alternatives, continuous assessments of ageing assets to prioritise maintenance and funding applications, and community awareness and reporting mechanisms to encourage residents to assist in protecting public assets.

Soyaya said the municipality urged stakeholders, including community leaders, political representatives, civil society, business, and the media, to condemn vandalism, support efforts to protect infrastructure and “accurately reflect the realities facing the municipality”. DM