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As Kimberley braces for yet another crippling five-day water shutdown in October, the DA has exposed the serious failure by Sol Plaatje municipality to institute promised water and sewage leak repairs over the past months and even years.

A comprehensive oversight inspection yesterday, with DA councillor Ockert Fourie, to different water and sewage leak sites in and around Kimberley, laid bare the shocking extent to which thousands of litres of fresh water and sewage are gushing into the veld.

The leaks identified have all been reported to Sol Plaatje municipality numerous times. Worryingly, some leaks were even pinpointed for repairs during the previous water shutdown earlier this year, including leaks on the 965 mm pipeline at the 3SAI Military Base and near the Gogga Pump Station. It is anticipated that a number of the same leaks will once again be identified for repair in the October water shutdown.

The situation is concerning. Either work is not being concluded as promised, despite residents having to endure days of no water supply, or repairs are simply not sustainable.

Our key findings in relation to mega sewage leaks and leaks coming from the Riverton pipeline are as follows:

1. The newly upgraded Gogga Pump Station, on which R25 million was recently spent, is in a working condition but is not operating. Even when there is enough sewage coming through, it cannot be sent to the Homevale Sewerage Plant, because this plant is currently not operational. See pic of Gogga Pump Station here and a video of a blocked sewer line that is preventing sewage from reaching Gogga Pump Station, here.

2. Sewage and freshwater leaks from the Gogga Pump Station continue to flow to the R31 road, that was flooded earlier this year. These leaks are already 18-years in the making and continue to add to the massive water mass on the R31. This was one of the main reasons for the previous water shutdown and it is again one of the reasons for the upcoming shutdown in Kimberley from 6th until 10th October. See video of sewage water leak here and a video of where a fresh water leak joins up with the sewage in a furrow and flows towards the R31 - see video here.

3. Massive fresh water leaks at the #3SAI army base, where new recruits are trained, persist.

4. Fresh water leaks en route to the N12 and on the N12 are extensive and continue to aggravate the risk of this road also becoming submerged in a lake, like the R31. See pics here and here and video here.

5. Another major fresh water leak on the Riverton pipeline, as reported by Cllr Fourie, is also still not repaired. This leak is affecting farmers in the area, who are without water for their livestock. See pic here and video here.

The damning situation shows just how precarious Sol Plaatje’s water and sewage infrastructure is, which continues to lead to disastrous consequences.

The DA will closely monitor the October water shutdown. Councillors will also be requesting a detailed breakdown from the municipality, of work to be done and costs involved, as well as a sustainability report on the projected outcomes. It cannot be that the same repairs are done time and again, and yet there is no improvement in the state of the city’s water and sewage pipelines, and growing marshlands.

Issued by Delmaine Christians MP - DA Member of the NCOP