The Care Village, as a place of safety for orphaned and foster children, has been dealing with sporadic flooding for over five years, with the reservoir overflow passing through their property for three days now.

Dr Kobus Koekemoer, the general manager at the Care Village, first reached out to the Middelburg Observer on June 21, where he pointed out significant water damage to their workshop and pavement, as well as spreading damp under the foundations of their homes.

Multiple attempts to report the leaks to the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality have yielded little results.

The DA Ward Councillor for Aerorand, Hennie Niemann, confirmed on previous occasions that both himself and the Department of Water and Sanitation are aware of the problem and he habitually reports the overflow every day.

Cllr Niemann explained that faulty telemetry at the reservoirs prevents the pump system from registering the overflow, which means that municipal employees have to manually check water levels and close off the supply.

According to Cllr Niemann’s knowledge, telemetry is an intricate system that cannot be repaired by the employees and an expert will have to be outsourced to repair it. He has vowed to query why the Department of Water and Sanitation has made no attempts to repair the leaks in the last five years.

“It’s frustrating that we first have to contact the Middelburg Observer every time before the problem is addressed, ” Dr Koekemoer concluded.

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