Nelson Mandela Bay is facing a severe water crisis marked by critically low reservoir levels and ongoing outages affecting dozens of suburbs.
The metro's dams remain full after May floods, but treatment plants are struggling due to high turbidity in raw water, power supply interruptions, chemical shortages and excessive daily consumption of 380 million litres against a 280 million litre target.
Several key reservoirs are nearly empty, including Rosedale at zero percent, Emerald Hill and Gelvandale at 2 percent, Heatherbank at 3 percent and Lovemore Heights at 4 percent. The municipality has more than 7,500 unrepaired leaks, and its fault-reporting lines were cut off due to unpaid bills.
Buyelwa Mafaya, politics head for infrastructure and engineering, said chemicals ordered on Monday were expected on Thursday and that the bid adjudication committee must convene to appoint plumbers. Residents and councillors expressed frustration over poor communication and the impact on vulnerable communities.