GROUNDUP : Taps dry as Eastern Cape town waits for water works upgrade

Prolonged water outages, blocked toilets and sewage flowing through the streets are daily life for residents of KwaMaqoma (formerly Fort Beaufort), where refurbishment of the water treatment works is months behind schedule.

Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina told Parliament in June 2025 that R150-million had been allocated for the complete refurbishment of the Fort Beaufort water treatment works by June 2027, increasing the capacity of the plant to 15 million litres a day.

In the meantime, the Department of Water and Sanitation has allocated R22-million in 2025/26 through the water services infrastructure grant as a short-term intervention. Completion was planned for June 2026. But when GroundUp visited in September, residents said taps were sometimes dry for weeks. When the water returned it was sometimes available only late at night.

Residents have repeatedly protested over water shortages, and Gift of the Givers has intervened to provide water.

Majodina said the introduction of waterborne sanitation, completed in June 2015, had increased demand beyond the capacity of the town’s water treatment works, which could only treat 6.5 million litres a day.

Leaks, particularly from household toilet cisterns, compounded the shortages, she said. The Amathole District Municipality (ADM) had assessed 1,282 households and found 1,059 required repairs. Repairs had helped restore supply to some areas but several communities, particularly rural villages, remained without water.

‘People are tired’

GroundUp spoke to resident Jerome Trompetter who returned to KwaMaqoma three years ago after working as a butler in Cape Town and Germany. Trompetter walks with crutches following a recent leg amputation. He said his toilet backwashes and is unusable. He uses a neighbour’s toilet. He said water shortages force him to turn clients away from his salon because he cannot wash their hair. He now asks them to arrive with their hair already washed.

When GroundUp visited in September water was available for only a few hours that day.

“At least this area is at a lower level. Those who are in upper areas sometimes go without water for three months,” he said.

“The sad thing is that we are no longer complaining. People are tired. We are just watching,” Trompetter added.

Next to Trompetter’s house is a leaking pipe. His neighbour, Henry Abrahams, said he had reported it to the municipality several times over the years.

Municipal workers had visited and taken photographs, but the leak remained.

“Municipal workers pass this street with their cars almost every day. I would stop them and ask for assistance. They would promise to come back. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t, and the burst is never fixed,” he said.

On Calendola Street sewage spills have left the road muddy, with grass growing over parts of it. There is a strong stench.

Surrounded by a bog

On 7de Laan, Frances Peterson said three houses share a sewerage pipe, and all experience blockages. She said municipal workers had repeatedly attended to her toilet.

“If they fix it in the afternoon, we know the next morning it will be back to what it was,” she said.

When she called again, she was told workers had already been sent to her home. Sometimes she waited three months for them to return.

Her house is now surrounded by a bog, affecting the foundation and paint.

In Upsher village, about 35km from KwaMaqoma, residents said the ADM had promised to install taps in 2024. They are still waiting.

The village has three water tanks. Ward committee member Xolani Kheswa said these were supposed to be filled weekly, but only one was being filled, about once every three to four months. He said workers responsible for deliveries had blamed poor road conditions for their inability to reach the other tanks.

Kheswa said nearby Rose Farm village no longer gets any water truck service.

Residents walk to a river to collect water, which they share with livestock.

“Pigs swim in that same water we use. We are sharing it with animals,” he said.

In March 2022, GroundUp reported on water shortages in Mhlangeni, near Hertzog, and Kat-Katvallei, near Seymour. At the time, community leaders in Mhlangeni said problems with the boreholes had begun in 2018. Kat-Katvallei residents said they had been without water for months.

We returned to Mhlangeni in September. Resident Vuyiseka Mali said new pipes had been installed and water supply restored in the first week of September, but the village needs more communal taps because it has grown.

In Kat-Katvallei, residents said they had been without water for four months until supply returned the day before GroundUp visited.

Resident James Daries said they had been told there was no diesel to pump water.

Resident Lithemba Geduka welcomed the return of tap water but feared it would not last.

“At least this week I won’t walk a long distance to the [Kat] river, but I know in two weeks’ time we might be back to fetching water from the river,” he said.

Unfinished work

In Cweru village, Middledrift, residents want answers about an unfinished project meant to supply the upper parts of the village with water from the Qawuka River. The project began in 2023.

Community leader Nomfuneko Tamba said the contractor left in early 2024, leaving some pipes behind. She said residents had repeatedly contacted the ADM but received no explanation.

On 16 October, KwaMaqoma residents protested against the water situation by blocking the road to Gqeberha.

In a public notice issued on Monday, the ADM said a specialist contractor to repair and replace filters at the Fort Beaufort water treatment works had been appointed, had arrived on site and work was under way.

Water deliveries by tanker would continue until the filter problems were resolved.

On Thursday, the ADM said water supply had been restored, but rationing would remain in place because demand in KwaMaqoma exceeded the capacity of the existing treatment works.

By the time of publication the ADM had not responded to our questions about the residents’ complaints sent two weeks ago. DM