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🇿🇦 South Africa /Energy & Infrastructure

Eastern Cape villagers still waiting for water from 20-year-old scheme

From Daily Maverick · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • The Buthongweni Water Supply Scheme, intended to serve about a dozen villages near Mthatha, remains unfinished two decades after construction began.
  • Residents say at least four contractors have come and gone, while the municipality cites contractual disputes, power problems, vandalism and equipment failures.
  • The municipality says a new generator arrived in November 2025 and that the scheme has operated since then under a rationing schedule.

For 20 years, residents near Ngqeleni in South Africa’s Eastern Cape have watched contractors arrive, install infrastructure and leave, while many villagers still collect water from a stream.

The Buthongweni Water Supply Scheme was designed to serve about a dozen villages, including Buthongweni, Mabhetshe, Zingonyameni, Mhlakotshane, Qokama, Sidanda, KwaZulu, Mntsholobeni, Mayalweni, Lushini and Sikhova.

We were hoping that they would finally finish the project… Unfortunately, they also left.

· Zamekile DyubheleA resident describing the departure of contractors from the long-delayed water scheme.

Resident Zamekile Dyubhele said the first contractor left in late 2007 after laying several pipes and building a tank. A second contractor appointed in 2009 installed taps, raising hopes that the project might finally deliver water, but also left. Another contractor arrived in 2016 and built a large tank, though Dyubhele said much of its work involved repairing pipes installed by earlier contractors.

“We were hoping that they would finally finish the project… Unfortunately, they also left,” Dyubhele said. A fourth contractor began work in 2024, but residents saw little progress. “Even this new contractor, it looks like it is repeating what the previous contractors did, fixing what was already done,” he said.

Dyubhele questioned continued spending on the scheme, saying guards remained at the Ngqeleni dam to watch machinery while the project continued to fail. The OR Tambo District Municipality declined to disclose how much had been spent since 2006.

Even this new contractor, it looks like it is repeating what the previous contractors did, fixing what was already done.

· Zamekile DyubheleHis assessment of the contractor appointed in 2024.

Municipal spokesperson Ncebakazi Kolwane attributed the delays to contractual problems and the lack of Eskom electricity needed to run the raw-water extraction works and treatment plant. The infrastructure stood idle and was vandalised, she said. The municipality later installed generators, but further disputes over local employment and damage to pipes during road construction caused additional delays.

Kolwane said the scheme had operated since a replacement generator arrived in November 2025. Water is supplied according to a rationing schedule intended to keep the system stable, while villagers continue to report that reliable access remains out of reach.

Although the

· Ncebakazi KolwaneThe supplied article ends during a quotation from the municipal spokesperson, so the incomplete quote is not used.
About this summary

Originally published by Daily Maverick in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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