Stellenbosch responds, but failed to read our article first

Yesterday we released a story, based on expert and insider testimony, with accounting evidence which is publicly available, that Stellenbosch municipality had deliberately forced out its water systems engineers, failed to fill their dams, and was at risk of running out of water. In response, the municipality posted the following response on its website and social media (our reply below):

“The Municipality notes with concern a factually inaccurate article published by the online platform, The Cape Independent, alleging that the Municipality is facing an imminent water crisis and will soon run out of water. These claims are incorrect and have created unnecessary alarm and confusion among residents.

It is regrettable that the author failed to approach the Municipality for comment prior to publication, as is standard journalistic practice – particularly on a matter as sensitive as water security.

The Municipality wishes to assure residents that there is no Day Zero scenario at present and no water restrictions are currently in place. As communicated on the 29th of January we assess and re-evaluate the water levels on a daily basis to ensure we start with water restrictions timeously ensuring a sufficient water supply, if the need arises.

The Municipality receives the bulk of its water from the Western Cape Water Supply System (WCWSS), which comprises six major dams scattered across the region – Theewaterskloof, Berg River, Steenbras (Upper and Lower), Wemmershoek and Voëlvlei. This system also supplies the City of Cape Town and neighbouring municipalities, including Drakenstein and Theewaterskloof.

As is typical during a dry, hot summer season, increased consumption and evaporation have placed pressure on reservoir levels. These levels are monitored daily by the Municipality’s Water Department. In addition, recent extensive fires across the Cape Winelands, Overberg and Stellenbosch Municipal areas required the use of untreated water from the Ida’s Valley Dams for firefighting purposes, which had a impact on dam levels. This does not however translate into a looming crisis.

The Municipality continues to produce sufficient potable water through the Paradyskloof Water Treatment Works, which is fed from the Theewaterskloof Dam. Supply has further been optimised through operational adjustments, including increased pumping to key reservoirs, activation of additional infrastructure, urgent leak repairs and the re-commissioning of boreholes previously used during the 2018 drought to supplement supply.

Claims of sabotage of municipal water infrastructure are taken very seriously and an investigation into these allegations has already commenced. At the same time, a number of interventions are already underway to ensure uninterrupted supply and to further augment water resources.

The Municipality remains in constant engagement with the City of Cape Town, the Provincial Government and the National Department of Water and Sanitation to assess prospects and determine any measures that may be required in future, should conditions change. Any decision regarding possible water restrictions will be communicated timeously and through official channels only.

Residents are encouraged to continue using water responsibly and to reduce consumption where possible. Making every drop count is a collective responsibility but this call for water-wise behaviour should not be confused with a full-blown water crisis.

The Municipality thanks the community for its cooperation and will continue to provide daily updates.”

The first thing to observe here is the municipality repeating their claim that fire services had any noticeable impact on water levels which, as our sources pointed out to us, is mathematically impossible, and would require hundreds of thousands of trips. Additionally, our article shows incontrovertible evidence from the municipality’s own tender roster and capital expenditure reports for the past five years that shows they entered into tender processes for essential maintenance and expansion, and failed to finance them.

This suggests to us that they didn’t read the article, and simply dismissed the headline. However, I will give them credit for initiating an investigation into the sabotage, and by all accounts, Anton Bredell is on his way to help put out fires, and will arrive on Monday, though Bredell has an extremely poor track record in this regard, as our coverage of the Garden Route shows.

Now, while the shared Cape Town supply is still healthy, this source only supplies part of Stellenbosch. Stellenbosch gets its drinking water from two separate systems: the main one (Paradyskloof treatment works) uses big regional dams and supplies most of the town. The other one (Idas Valley treatment works) serves Idas Valley, parts of Cloetesville, Welgevonden, the University, Uniepark and Simonswyk. It relies almost entirely on local mountain water, which they failed to transfer sufficient raw water to during the wet season. These two sources are very close to the same size, but shifts in demand can be made via a transfer pumpstation linking the distribution network.

This second system is supplied from the Idasvalley Water Treatment Plant, and is at risk of major supply issues due to the fact that the Eerste River is currently estimated to contribute only about 3 Megaliters per day to the Idasvalley Water Treatment Plant (a normal range for summer), but the demand on the Treatment Plant is estimated at 10 Megaliters per day. The remaining must come from the Idasvalley Dams, which are extremely low and thus close to a point that it cannot contribute to the system unless sustained rain events occur.

Currently, there is an option to add water from the Kleinplasie dam, operated by Department of Water and Sanitation, but this is only possible if urgent infrastructure is designed and installed. There is a high risk of this work not being completed in time to mitigate this crisis

This situation is not just bad luck. Years of neglected maintenance, unfinished projects and staff shortages have left this part of the system with almost no buffer. The same problems are likely affecting other municipal services (sewerage, roads, electricity, etc.), and we will be following up on this with reference to KPIs, CapEx reports and public tender records..

Most of the rest of Stellenbosch is still fine for now (the bulk Paradyskloof supply is holding), but the Ida’s Valley zone is running on borrowed time.

This raises questions about the sustainability of the other municipal services, as one can expect others to also fail or struggle as a result of the years of destruction by Mettler and her confederates. The assurance that there will be “an investigation” is not reassuring – the idea that the mafia will investigate the mafia should come as no succour to concerned victims.