The ‘Alta’mate plan will see Vryheid’s water supply restored from today

A plan to start restoring water supply to Vryheid households is currently afoot.
AbaQulusi’s Department of Water and Sanitation began the process of reconnecting water supply today.
Alta de Kock, the Democratic Alliance councillor, who came up with the plan, is celebrating her ingenuity in having ‘solved the water crisis’.

AfriForum’s André van der Walt, however, “strongly opposes,” Cllr de Kock’s plan, saying, “It is not worth the paper it was written on.”

He foresees that the implementation of the plan is likely to create unhappiness among residents, resulting in chaos, corruption and illegal water connections.

ALSO READ: MAP: When are you likely to have water restored in your area?

AND: AfriForum opposes Alta’s plan to restore water

So where lies the flaw in Cllr de Kock’s carefully crafted plan?
Vryheid residents may have water supply to their homes as early as this week… But, only if your water meter has not been stolen.

If it has been stolen, your pipe will be plugged shut and you will still have to collect water at the communal points until the municipality can replace the stolen meters.

Driven by frustration over the fact that there is abundant water in the dams, but Vryheid taps are still dry, Cllr de Kock requested a meeting with the officials in the Technical Services Department, and mayor, Martin Mtshali, the previous week.
In preparation for the meeting, Cllr de Kock consulted with engineers and plumbers to learn about the town’s infrastructure and to get advice on what needed to be done in order to reconnect the water supply.
When the meeting took place on Friday, March 17, the ‘Alta’mate plan was ready for presentation.
However, Cllr de Kock’s meeting co-incided with the fortnightly water crisis Joint Operations Committee (JOC) meeting which is held in Ulundi. This meant that director of Technical Services, Vasan Chetty, and other key officials, were unable to attend Cllr de Kock’s meeting, as they were being engaged by Department of Water Affairs, Cogta and Zululand District municipality, regarding the water crisis, at the same time.

“At the meeting, I asked the officials present if they had a plan to reconnect water supply, and they said they didn’t, so I presented my plan. Since my plan was the only one on the table, the Mayor asked the Technical Services team to work from my plan to ensure that Vryheid’s residents have water as soon as possible.

While Cllr de Kock’s plan was published on Facebook the same day, Mr Chetty saw the plan for the first time on Wednesday afternoon and admitted feeling strongly that the water meters should be replaced before water supply was restored. He said that the Technical Services Department was doing what it could to fast-track the replacing of the meters. However, AbaQulusi’s councillors insisted that Cllr de Kock’s plan should be implemented as it meant that water supply could be established sooner.

What does the ‘Alta’mate plan entail?
On presentation of her plan, Cllr de Kock acknowledges that asbestos pipes, which have not been in use for about a year, may not be able to handle the pressure once water is restored.
“Isolation valves and air valves need to be installed, to isolate sections where work needs to be done if a pipe bursts,” said Cllr de Kock.
She further acknowledges that the pumps at Klipfontein dam are not operational and could cost R100 000 to repair.
“It is the DA’s opinion that, while the municipality has lost a year’s worth of income for water and we don’t have the funds to fix the pumps, that we use water from Grootgewacht and Bloemveld dams until the system is fixed,” suggests Cllr de Kock.
“These dams use gravitation to fill the adjacent reservoirs after the purification is done.”
With regards to the stolen water meters, Cllr de Kock recommended that plugs be installed where water meters have been stolen, to prevent water spillage. This means that you will have normal supply if your water meter is still in place. However, if your water meter has been stolen, the water supply to your house will be stopped until the meter has been replaced.