{"id":12276,"date":"2026-07-15T04:29:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T04:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/?p=12276"},"modified":"2026-07-15T04:29:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T04:29:57","slug":"taps-dry-as-northern-cape-municipality-drowns-in-r1bn-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/?p=12276","title":{"rendered":"Taps dry as Northern Cape municipality drowns in R1bn debt"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Kakamas resident Andr\u00e9 Smith says the water pressure is so low he can place a bucket under a tap and walk to town. By the time he is back, \u201cthe bucket still isn\u2019t full\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n

Residents in the semi-arid, Northern Cape Kai !Garib Local Municipality told GroundUp they frequently experience water outages or problems with water pressure.<\/p>\n

Read:
Water contractors say eThekwini failed to pay them
Kimberley: Northern Cape\u2019s capital sunk in sewage<\/p>\n

\u201cThe water situation has not improved, it has worsened. And the quality of the water is concerning,\u201d said Smith. \u201cNow, the water has too much bleach in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says you can smell the chlorine in the water.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf we struggle with water for a month, we must still pay our rates. Why must we pay for something we are not using?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He said they had complained to the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS). \u201cWe complained in December, January and February, while it was extremely hot. At the end of the day, nothing has improved,\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\n

The Kai !Garib\u2019s water crisis comes as the municipality is drowning in R1 billion debt. Situated on the southern edge of the Kalahari Desert on the banks of the Orange River, it has several towns, the largest being Kakamas, Keimoes and Kenhardt.<\/p>\n

Read: Stats SA survey lays bare SA\u2019s water supply failures<\/p>\n

While temperatures soar in summer, old and failing infrastructure often leaves residents without water for days and facing frequent sewage spills. For years, the municipal water and sewage treatment plants have deteriorated, and are now in a critical state.<\/p>\n

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Andr\u00e9 Smith, Kakamas community leader, says water interruptions and low water pressure are a constant issue. Image: Liezl Human\/GroundUp<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Water services<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The municipality\u2019s overall DWS Blue Drop score for water services dropped from 71% in 2014 to 16% in 2023.<\/p>\n

All 16 of its water treatment plants providing drinking water to residents were rated high or critical risk.<\/p>\n

The municipality\u2019s 2025 audited financial statements show water losses in 2024 at 68% and in 2025 at 58%.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, DWS deputy minister Sello Seitlholo criticised the ANC-run municipality for its \u201cpoor performance\u201d in water infrastructure.<\/p>\n

In Kakamas, Smith has made it his mission to hold the municipality accountable.<\/p>\n

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Smith also took issue with the quality of the water they receive. He has lodged several complaints to the department about \u201cdirty water\u201d and the municipality\u2019s lack of accountability.<\/p>\n

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The ANC has a majority in the Kai !Garib municipal council. Image: Liezl Human\/GroundUp<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In October, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) held hearings into the state of service delivery in local Northern Cape municipalities, particularly around the provision of water.<\/p>\n

The commission raised concerns about the high cost of water trucks and the amounts paid by the Kai !Garib Municipality to contractors. The municipality spends an average of R1.5 million per month on outsourced water tankers.<\/p>\n

According to audited financial statements for the year ending June 2025, the municipality spent over R20 million on contracts to tanker in water in 2024 and nearly R16 million in 2025.<\/p>\n

At the hearings, municipal manager Obakeng Isaacs acknowledged that spending on water trucks was \u201cexorbitant\u201d.<\/p>\n

Read\/listen:<\/p>\n

SA\u2019s reliance on water tank delivery has stopped pipes getting fixed<\/div>\n
Water tanker mafias are threatening SA infrastructure and service delivery<\/div>\n

He said the municipality had received complaints from communities that some water trucks were not reaching all affected streets.<\/p>\n

Isaacs said \u201cbroken vehicles\u201d and staffing shortages in the roads department \u201cimpedes the process of keeping roads up to standard\u201d.<\/p>\n

The municipality also told the commission that despite having 480 permanent employees, it lacked skilled staff in critical positions.<\/p>\n

Failing sanitation<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

After visiting the municipality in June, then DWS deputy minister Seitlholo raised the alarm over deteriorating wastewater treatment plants. He said the municipality \u201cfailed to implement adequate measures to prevent persistent sewage overflows from manholes, dysfunctional pump stations, stormwater systems and oxidation ponds\u201d.<\/p>\n

Seitlholo said, \u201cThe continued deterioration of this infrastructure has resulted in contamination of local watercourses, posing severe public health and environmental hazards\u201d.<\/p>\n

The municipality\u2019s Green Drop score has declined from 34% in 2013 to 13% in 2021, and hit 0% in 2024, with all four wastewater treatment works in Keimoes, Kenhardt, Vredesvallei, and Kakamas in a critical or high-risk state.<\/p>\n

The report found the municipality had no qualified engineers, contributing \u201cto poor system performance and reduced ability to maintain or rehabilitate infrastructure\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Roads in Kakamas are full of potholes. Image: Liezl Human\/GroundUp<\/p>\n

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In the report, the department noted the municipality was \u201cpoorly prepared and unresponsive\u201d when DWS tried to set up meetings and \u201cvery little evidence that was presented\u201d since the municipality did no operational monitoring.<\/p>\n

The Green Drop report noted the Kakamas Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) was spilling raw sewage and posed \u201cmajor risks to staff and the public\u201d.<\/p>\n

The municipality also submitted a feasibility study for the construction of new plant. The study found that wastewater is transported from towns and surrounding farms to the Kakamas oxidation ponds with municipal suction trucks, at a cost of nearly R10-million a year.<\/p>\n

The oxidation ponds were last upgraded 40 years ago, and are \u201cno longer able to cope with the volumes of sewage delivered to the treatment plant\u201d, DWS found.<\/p>\n

An estimated 4.5 million litres is discharged into the oxidation ponds, ten times the volume it is designed to treat.<\/p>\n

The overload of the Kakamas WWTW means that untreated effluent eventually ends up in the Orange River, creating a health risk. The cost of the new WWTW is estimated at R143 million and would be funded by a regional bulk infrastructure grant.<\/p>\n

Read:
A new R486m water system, but the taps are still dry in these Limpopo villages
SA\u2019s reliance on water tank delivery has stopped pipes getting fixed
Joburg Water disaster has been a decade in the making<\/p>\n

Since the deputy minister\u2019s October visit, the municipality has submitted a corrective action plan to restore or upgrade the WWTW, according to DWS spokesperson Wisane Mavasa.<\/p>\n

She said that since 2016, five directives were issued to Kai !Garib (the most recent in December 2025) for \u201cpoor operation or maintenance and spillages\u201d from the Kakamas, Keimoes, Kenhardt and Vredesvallei WWTW.<\/p>\n

Mavasa said the new Kakamas WWTW and bulk water supply projects are in the implementation stage, where designs, environmental studies, and water use applications are to be completed in December this year.<\/p>\n

Mavasa said there has been an improvement in drinking water quality over the past six months because of refurbished infrastructure.<\/p>\n

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Image: Liezl Human\/GroundUp<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Drowning in debt<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Kai !Garib municipality has more than R1 billion in debt. Most is owed to Eskom, and smaller amounts to the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA), the South African Revenue Service, and pension funds.<\/p>\n

Municipal debt tracked by the National Treasury shows that earlier in 2026 the municipality owed Eskom R986 million.<\/p>\n

During the SAHRC hearings, municipal chief financial officer Antheniqe Beukes said the municipality had \u201centered into very unrealistic payment arrangements\u201d.<\/p>\n

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The municipality owes AGSA more than R25 million. AGSA says it has entered into an agreement with the municipality to pay off the debts and the municipality is complying.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Each year, the municipality is in deficit. For the financial year ending in 2025 it was R213 million, and in 2024 it was R54 million. Unauthorised, irregular and fruitless, and wasteful expenditure in 2025 was R422 million, and R788 million in 2024.<\/p>\n

In the latest available annual report (2023\/24), the municipality acknowledged that it had been operating a deficit for five years due to \u201cextreme cash flow constraints\u201d. This, it said, made it difficult to \u201chonour the monthly expenditure commitments, which forces suppliers to charge interest\u201d.<\/p>\n

On 7 May, Eskom threatened to switch off the municipality\u2019s electricity supply due to outstanding payments.<\/p>\n

The municipality then filed an urgent court application to suspend the interruption. On 18 June, the court ordered the parties to negotiate and conclude a Distribution Agency Agreement, with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) providing an \u201coversight role\u201d, according to Eskom.<\/p>\n

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A new bulk water supply project is intended to \u201caddress deteriorating water quality\u201d and to supply water to Kakamas and five surrounding villages. Image: Liezl Human\/GroundUp<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Beukes told the SAHRC that the only way the municipality can get out of its debt is to increase its revenue, yet the 2025 annual financial statement shows municipal revenue was just R383 million. About R160 million of this was from service charges, which amounts to R13 million per month.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Nomahlubi Khwinana suggested that the municipality be placed under administration because it was effectively \u201cinsolvent\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to continue to be insolvent as long as you have that amount,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

National Treasury recently announced it would be freezing equitable share grants to 69 municipalities, including Kai !Garib, to \u201cinstil fiscal discipline and ensure that public money is properly managed\u201d.<\/p>\n

In February this year, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that badly-run municipalities will receive intervention.<\/p>\n

Read:<\/p>\n

Godongwana updates on withheld municipal funding<\/div>\n
Eskom switch-off: These are the municipalities at risk<\/div>\n
No more funding without accountability for failing municipalities<\/div>\n

Responding to GroundUp, National Treasury said, \u201cFor municipalities that are unable to implement infrastructure projects effectively, the Department of Cooperative Governance (CoGTA) will \u2026 appoint capable implementing agents to deliver projects on the municipality\u2019s behalf.\u201d<\/p>\n

It said municipalities will still be expected to implement \u201crestoration plans\u201d with support from CoGTA.<\/p>\n

GroundUp sent questions to the Kai !Garib municipality but did not receive a response.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2026 GroundUp. This article was first published here.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

#Taps #dry #Northern #Cape #municipality #drowns #R1bn #debt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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