As Makhanda entered its sixth day without water on Tuesday, 22 February, the lines at the Gift of the Givers water truck snaked along streets in Makhanda as desperate mothers and grandmothers brought buckets, milk pails and any plastic containers they could find to get some water.
After a series of smaller failures throughout January, the James Kleynhans Water Treatment works pump station in Makhanda failed after its power station was flooded when a gasket blew.
“Our team tried by all means to save the situation, but unfortunately could not win,” the municipality’s statement read.
The town has struggled with continuous water outages since the beginning of January as problems cropped up at both the James Kleynhans and the Waainek water treatment works.
Archive photo: Lucas Nowicki/GroundUp
Areas in Makhanda have been without water due to a fault at a dam supplying the reservoir.
Charity organisation Gift of the Givers has been called in to assist the community.
The municipality says there are now five truck delivering water to the area.
Charity organisation Gift of the Givers has been roped in to help the community of Makhanda, in the Eastern Cape, gain access to water.
A fault at one of the dams left parts of the area without water for four days.
The Makana municipality councillor, Ramie Xonxa, told News24 on Sunday that certain areas in Makhanda had been without water for a few days following the fault at the dam.