Amathole district municipality has been accused of moving at a tortoise's speed to remove... well a tortoise that had blocked water from reaching parts of Stutterheim.
ADM spokesperson Nonceba Madikizela-Vuso admitted that the small reptile had sabotaged water supply when it crawled inside raw water inlet flow pipeline at the water treatment works, blocking water from reaching the CBD, Mlungisi township, Kubusi and Kwazidenge.
While Madikizela-Vuso said the cuts lasted only for about five hours, Amahlathi Black Business Forum secretary, Siyabulela Makunga said the areas had been without the natural resource for two weeks.
Madikizela-Vuso said the tortoise was found by a worker at the water treatment works at 10am on Saturday.
“The process controller noticed an overflow in the main line which is unusual as the water ought to flow. This was an indication that something was not right and there was something blocking the system.
“The team used unblocking rods to try and push the water through and realised there was something unusual causing the blockage.
“Chlorine was poured into the line and a tortoise swam back, out of the system.” Makunga said Bhongolwethu and Xolorha townships were also affected by the outages.
“Personally, I am asking myself how big was this turtle that it blocked water for weeks?”
The former ADM spokesperson admitted the area has aging infrastructure. The drought that has persisted since 2015 has also not made things easy in Stutterheim, while he also bemoaned alleged mismanagement of funds by his former employer.
He called for the Amahlathi local municipality and the ADM to be placed under administration. Amahlathi is already under provincial government administration.
“This has gotten to a point where people are now denied basic services.
“It is clear to me that both local and district municipalities are failing to discharge their constitutional mandates, and should in our view, be place under full administration,” he said.
Tortoise to blame for water cuts, says Amathole district municipality
Image: SUPPLIED
Amathole district municipality has been accused of moving at a tortoise's speed to remove... well a tortoise that had blocked water from reaching parts of Stutterheim.
ADM spokesperson Nonceba Madikizela-Vuso admitted that the small reptile had sabotaged water supply when it crawled inside raw water inlet flow pipeline at the water treatment works, blocking water from reaching the CBD, Mlungisi township, Kubusi and Kwazidenge.
While Madikizela-Vuso said the cuts lasted only for about five hours, Amahlathi Black Business Forum secretary, Siyabulela Makunga said the areas had been without the natural resource for two weeks.
Madikizela-Vuso said the tortoise was found by a worker at the water treatment works at 10am on Saturday.
“The process controller noticed an overflow in the main line which is unusual as the water ought to flow. This was an indication that something was not right and there was something blocking the system.
“The team used unblocking rods to try and push the water through and realised there was something unusual causing the blockage.
“Chlorine was poured into the line and a tortoise swam back, out of the system.” Makunga said Bhongolwethu and Xolorha townships were also affected by the outages.
“Personally, I am asking myself how big was this turtle that it blocked water for weeks?”
The former ADM spokesperson admitted the area has aging infrastructure. The drought that has persisted since 2015 has also not made things easy in Stutterheim, while he also bemoaned alleged mismanagement of funds by his former employer.
He called for the Amahlathi local municipality and the ADM to be placed under administration. Amahlathi is already under provincial government administration.
“This has gotten to a point where people are now denied basic services.
“It is clear to me that both local and district municipalities are failing to discharge their constitutional mandates, and should in our view, be place under full administration,” he said.
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