Edited by Kouga Chronicle: Kouga Municipality wants the national government to remove the bulk water supply management of the Kromme River system from Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and give the management to Gamtoos Water instead.
Yesterday, 12 March, Vicky Knoetze, a DA Kouga Constituency Leader and MPL, announced that Kouga Municipality has written to the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina, requesting that the management of the Kromme bulk water system, including Churchill Dam and Impofu Dam, be transferred away from Nelson Mandela Bay.
Kouga’s Mayor Hattingh Bornman suggested that the dams and bulk infrastructure be managed by Gamtoos Water, which already manages the nearby Kouga Dam. Churchill and Impofu dams are part of the Kromme River bulk water system and supply water to both Kouga and Nelson Mandela Bay.
To reduce reliance on dam water, Kouga has drilled more than 30 boreholes and built four advanced groundwater purification plants, allowing the municipality to reduce its dependency on dam water from 70% to around 30%. The remaining 70% of Kouga’s water supply now comes from underground sources, including springs and boreholes. Kromme River dams remain critical to Kouga’s overall water supply system.
The DA claims that Nelson Mandela Bay is currently losing around 60% of its water through leaks and aging infrastructure, and has not implemented sufficient water augmentation measures. Concerns have also been raised that the metro is over-extracting water from Churchill and Impofu dams, which could place additional pressure on the system.
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