NGQELENI / MTHATHA — Communities around Ngqeleni near Mthatha are still waiting for piped water two decades after the Buthongweni Water Supply Scheme began, residents and municipal officials say. Locals report at least four contractors have worked on the project since 2006 but the system has never been fully commissioned.
Work starts, stalls and restarts
Residents named a procession of contractors who arrived, installed components and then left. According to Zamekile Dyubhele, the first contractor withdrew in late 2007 after laying several pipes and building a tank. A second contractor appointed in 2009 installed taps, raising hopes, but also left. A further contractor arrived in 2016, built another large tank and spent much of its time repairing earlier work. A fourth contractor started in 2024 but made little visible progress.
"Even this new contractor, it looks like it is repeating what the previous contractors did, fixing what was already done," said Zamekile Dyubhele.
Villagers said they rely on streams and other informal sources for daily water needs. Photographs provided with the reporting show residents collecting water from a nearby stream in Qokama.
Municipal response and obstacles
The OR Tambo District Municipality declined to disclose the total amount spent on the Buthongweni scheme since 2006. Municipal spokesperson Ncebakazi Kolwane said the project was hampered by contractual problems and could not be fully commissioned because there was no electricity from Eskom to energise the raw water abstraction works and the treatment plant.
Kolwane said the lack of grid power left infrastructure idle for prolonged periods and exposed it to vandalism. She added the municipality started a refurbishment project in 2009 and installed generators to power extraction and treatment works where possible.
Local impact and accountability questions
Residents expressed frustration at seeing machinery guarded at the Ngqeleni dam while work on village connections stalled. Dyubhele said guards appear to be paid, but the visible outcome for households remains unchanged. The long-running delays have deprived multiple villages of a promised basic service.
The stalled project raises questions about contract management, supervision and contingency planning when essential services depend on third-party contractors and electricity supply. The municipality acknowledged contractual issues but did not provide a financial breakdown when asked.
Where the scheme was meant to reach
The Buthongweni Water Supply Scheme was intended to serve about a dozen villages. The reporting identifies the following communities as beneficiaries:
- Buthongweni
- Mabhetshe
- Zingonyameni
- Mhlakotshane
- Qokama
- Sidanda
- KwaZulu
- Mntsholobeni
- Mayalweni
- Lushini
- Sikhova
| Year | Noted event |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Project initiation (scheme dates back two decades) |
| 2007 | First contractor left after laying pipes and building a tank |
| 2009 | Second contractor installed taps; municipality began refurbishment after vandalism |
| 2016 | Third contractor built another tank but mainly repaired earlier work |
| 2024 | Fourth contractor began work with little progress reported |
Practical consequences and wider context
Access to reliable water is a basic municipal responsibility with implications for health, sanitation and livelihoods. Prolonged dependence on streams and informal supplies increases the risk of waterborne disease and places additional burden on households, particularly women and children who typically collect water.
The reliance on generators while Eskom supply is unavailable also increases operating costs and vulnerability to fuel shortages and theft. Vandalism of idle infrastructure has been a recurring problem across rural infrastructure projects, complicating efforts to restore services and increasing overall expenditure.
Residents and local activists are likely to press the OR Tambo District Municipality for a full accounting of funds spent, details of contracts awarded and a clear timeline for completion. At the time of reporting the municipality had not published a cumulative cost for the project dating back to 2006.
For households across the affected villages, the immediate demand is simple and urgent: functioning taps. Until the scheme is completed and commissioned, many will continue to rely on unsafe sources while questions remain about project management and oversight.
