Damaged pumps leave parts of Nkomazi dry

Large parts of Nkomazi were without water for at least two days, due to flooded and damaged water extraction pumps caused by recent floods.

Residents of Komatipoort, Malalane and surrounding areas reported the water issues to the municipality after the initial storm in January.

The area received over 350 millilitres of rain since Cyclone Eloise hit on January 26, which caused severe structural damage to roads and buildings.

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According to a local resident, Jan Engelbrecht, only residents with their own water reservoirs, and areas where the blackouts have not occurred, had water.

He suspected that the lack of water was related to a lack of electricity in the area, because without electricity, water cannot be pumped from the purification plant to the reservoirs.

“The town lives and works in an environment of, at most, symptomatic relief, and not in an enabled environment. Over the weekend, Eskom’s provision to the Sonefe line (which provides to farms and the Suiddorp) failed, as well as the provision to Rissik Street and some other areas in town. The combination of these power supplying failures inside the town left it without water.”

Cyril Ripinga, spokesperson for Nkomazi Local Municipality (NLM), said the water issues should not be confused with electricity issues.

“The whole of Nkomazi is experiencing a water shortage. About 80 per cent of the water extraction pumps in the Komati River have been broken, burned out or were filled with mud during the storms
of the last few weeks. Our staff have been working throughout the weekend and overnight to fix the problem.”

According to Ripinga, engineers from various companies have been summoned to tend to the damaged pumps.

“We couldn’t prepare for the floods. When it rains, it rains. It is out of our control, but we are working with a team of engineers from Mbombela to mend the damaged pumps.”

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When asked about weather warnings and possible floods, Ripinga said, “We can’t go into the river while it is raining to protect the pumps.”

He said that NLM could not remove the pumps prior to the flood, because then residents would be left without water as well. As for the inquiries about power outages, Ripinga maintained that Komati does not have problems with electricity anymore. “We haven’t had problems with electricity again, therefore we don’t need a backup generator. We have a mobile generator, meant to service the whole of Nkomazi in times of power failures.”