Kamogelo Olaitan
The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NBM) in the Eastern Cape has denied claims that its dam levels have reached Day Zero.
On Monday morning, there were reports that Impofu Dam had reached 0%, meaning there was no water left to extract.
The municipality refuted the report, saying the dam level was reaching just above 12.26% but urged residents to use the water sparingly.
This leaves only the Churchill Dam to supply large areas of both the Kouga and Nelson Mandela Bay municipalities with water.
Addressing the media, Joseph Tsatsire, the director of water distribution at NBM, admitted that they were facing a crisis but said they have measures in place to address it.
He said the municipality’s water consumption was 278 megalitres per day, while only 230 megalitres were available from the Gariep Dam.
“The metro will experience water disruption or intermittent supply because the available resources are less than the usage. This means if the consumers reduce consumption to 230 megalitres the metro will avoid the so-called Day Zero in the red zone,” Tsatsire said.
Through their social media platforms, posters and mobile loudhailers, the municipality has asked thousands of residents to use water sparingly.
The municipality said it has set up 16 water collection points around the metro to supply more than 105 suburbs.
Gift of the Givers, a humanitarian organisation, has indicated that it will be sending borehole drilling teams to assist the metro with the water crisis.
