Residents of KwaMaqoma in the Eastern Cape say their taps can run dry for weeks. Work on the Fort Beaufort water treatment works, which was due to be finished in June 2026, is still not done, GroundUp reported.
The Amathole District Municipality (ADM) said on Thursday that water supply had been restored. It said rationing would stay in place because demand in KwaMaqoma is higher than what the plant can treat.
“The sad thing is that we are no longer complaining. People are tired. We are just watching,” resident Jerome Trompetter told GroundUp.
KwaMaqoma was formerly known as Fort Beaufort. Residents there deal with long water cuts, blocked toilets and sewage running in the streets.
Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina told Parliament in June 2025 that R150 million had been set aside to fully refurbish the plant by June 2027. She said this would raise its capacity to 15 million litres a day.
As a short-term step, the Department of Water and Sanitation gave R22 million in 2025/26 through the water services infrastructure grant. That work was planned to end in June 2026.
Majodina said flush toilets, completed in the town in June 2015, pushed demand past what the plant could handle. The plant can treat only 6.5 million litres a day, she said.
She said leaks, mostly from household toilet cisterns, made the shortages worse. ADM checked 1,282 homes and found that 1,059 needed repairs.
Trompetter, who walks with crutches after a leg amputation, said his toilet backs up and cannot be used. He said he turns clients away from his salon because he cannot wash their hair.
“Those who are in upper areas sometimes go without water for three months,” he said.
His neighbour, Henry Abrahams, said he had reported a leaking pipe near their homes many times over the years. He said municipal workers took photos, but the leak was never fixed.
In 7de Laan, Frances Peterson said three houses share one sewer pipe and all get blocked. “If they fix it in the afternoon, we know the next morning it will be back to what it was,” she said.
In Upsher village, about 35km away, ward committee member Xolani Kheswa said only one of three water tanks was being filled. He said this happened about once every three to four months.
Kheswa said nearby Rose Farm village no longer gets water trucks. Residents walk to a river they share with livestock. “Pigs swim in that same water we use,” he said.
In Kat-Katvallei, near Seymour, residents said they had no water for four months. Resident James Daries said they were told there was no diesel to pump water.
In Cweru village, Middledrift, community leader Nomfuneko Tamba said a contractor left a water project in early 2024. She said residents had received no explanation from ADM.
On 16 October, KwaMaqoma residents protested by blocking the road to Gqeberha. Gift of the Givers has also stepped in to supply water.
In a notice issued on Monday, ADM said a specialist contractor had started repairing and replacing filters at the plant. It said tanker deliveries would continue until the filter problems are fixed. ADM had not answered GroundUp’s questions about residents’ complaints at the time of publication.
Source: this article is based on reporting by GroundUp. Image: GroundUp. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice News desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Kgomotso Maake covers news and politics for Tzaneen Voice. Kgomotso reports on government, Parliament, municipalities, courts, crime and service delivery across South Africa, with a close eye on how national decisions reach towns like Tzaneen and the wider Limpopo province. Stories are written in plain English and focus on the facts: who made the decision, what it means, and what happens next.