Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • Africa could lead the way in precision medicine
  • Wall-to-Wall Creation
  • Covid grant should be increased to at least R413, say civil society groups
  • National shutdown goes off peacefully in Makhanda
  • A bond forged by mentoring
  • Ibe yimpumelelo itumente yolutsha eQhorha
  • A good financial planner is indispensable
  • Exciting encounters in LFA Premier League weekend games
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Grocott's Mail
You are at:Home»OPINION & ANALYSIS»Letters»Govt, time to get serious about water
Letters

Govt, time to get serious about water

Staff ReporterBy Staff ReporterMay 27, 2019Updated:May 27, 2019No Comments2 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Makana Citizens Front (MCF) councillor Philip Machanick addresses the Makana Residents Association (MRA) in this file photo. Photo: Steven Lang

Dear President Ramaphosa

Gift of the Givers has been all over the news with claims that the Department of Water and Sanitation has reneged on a commitment to fund their emergency intervention in Makhanda (Grahamstown).
We will let Gift of the Givers fight their side as we do not have all the facts.
I remind government that this was a very real crisis with very damaging consequences if it was not addressed. In January, it was not clear that the Makana municipality could guarantee sufficient water for Rhodes University to open for the year. Had the university been forced to close, the local economy would have gone into total meltdown. Thankfully, we are out of that dire emergency, though our water supply is still highly constrained.
I also remind government that this was a crisis wholly of their own making. The east side of Makhanda is supplied from the national Fish and Orange River scheme and was in deep trouble because of poor maintenance of the James Kleynhans Water Works and because of a failed project to double its capacity.
The project to double the capacity of the James Kleynhans Water Works had a budget of over R100-million and was originally slated to complete by the end of 2017. That project has now been restarted.
What I challenge government to understand is why major infrastructure projects like this fail so often. Once or twice is bad luck; frequent repetition is failure by design.

As chair of Grahamtown Residents Association (GRA), I thank Gift of the Givers for saving our city. Government? I will thank you when you get serious about delivering infrastructure rather than delivering failure.

Previous ArticleNtsika Eagles crack JSE Challenge
Next Article Wazi ntoni ngokusingqongileyo?
Staff Reporter
  • Website

Comments are closed.

Tweets by Grocotts
Newsletter



Listen

The Rhodes University Community Engagement Division has launched Engagement in Action, a new podcast which aims to bring to life some of the many ways in which the University interacts with communities around it. Check it out below.

Humans of Makhanda

Humans of Makhanda

Weather    |     About     |     Advertise     |     Subscribe     |     Contact     |     Support Grocott’s Mail

© 2023 Maintained by School of Journalism & Media Studies.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.