Knysna officials say signs of improvement in water situation

There are signs of improvement in Knysna’s water situation, with municipal officials saying that recent interventions are beginning to boost supply.

The municipality said that dam levels have increased, and national government has pledged additional support.

Knysna’s Mayor Thando Matika said that the town is starting to see progress in efforts to increase water supply.

He said that water reserves have increased in recent days, following emergency interventions and additional support.

“We are really making progress. Because now we have risen from ten days to now it’s eighteen days and we keep on pumping. The ministry have been communicating with us. They have promised that they will allocate around 20 million in terms of assessing the challenge that we are facing in Knysna.”

Matika said that more boreholes are being drilled and brought online with the help of NGOs, while teams continue working to repair leaks and ageing infrastructure.

He also urged residents to continue using water sparingly even though, coordinated efforts between local, provincial and national government are helping to stabilise supply.

Matika is also facing calls to resign but he said that this will not fix long-standing infrastructure failures.

He added that constant changes in leadership and political point-scoring will not deliver long-term solutions for residents

Matika has only been in office for 11 months and said that that the town’s infrastructure challenges span many years.

“I know there is an opposition. Even myself, as the opposition, I’ll use that opportunity and say that heads must roll. I’ve been here only 11 months. There are a lot of infrastructure challenges that we have to fix."

Matika says if municipalities continue to focus on political battles instead of fixing ageing infrastructure, residents will never see lasting improvements.

He maintains that efforts are now underway to stabilise water supply and repair key infrastructure.