Sedgefield’s ongoing water and service delivery crisis has exposed serious and persistent operational failures within the Greater Knysna Municipality, compelling the Sedgefield Ratepayers Association (SRA) to intervene to prevent a complete breakdown of essential services.

Despite a regional drought, it has been confirmed that Sedgefield and Smutsville have sufficient raw water.

“The current crisis is not one of supply, but of poor maintenance, delayed procurement, and ineffective management of municipal infrastructure, administered centrally from Knysna”, said SRA Chair, Kevin Barnes. “These failures became starkly evident when a critical high-lift pump at the Sedgefield Water Treatment Works failed at the end of January. Reservoir levels dropped rapidly, leaving many residents without water.”

With no functional standby pumps available, emergency water tankers had to be deployed at great cost, with assistance from Gift of the Givers.

SRA Drives High-Level Engagement

It is important to clarify that the SRA formally arranged and called for the meeting with Provincial Minister Anton Bredell and Graham Paulse to ensure that Sedgefield’s concerns were directly communicated at senior level.

Following this engagement, the SRA submitted formal correspondence to Provincial Ministers Anton Bredell and Tertius Simmers, affording them an opportunity to intervene decisively and correct the current situation. The Ministers have been given until 9 Februaryto respond. Failing a satisfactory response, the matter will be escalated to the Office of the Public Protector for further investigation.

Provincial oversight has since confirmed that Knysna Municipality does not face a raw water shortage. Several municipal boreholes can be restored to operation relatively quickly, with additional boreholes identified. Funding is reportedly available, yet implementation remains slow. While the province can provide guidance and support, constitutional limits place responsibility squarely on the municipality.

Direct Pressure Leads to Action

As the crisis escalated, the SRA Exco was informed that both booster pumps at the Karatara River site had failed, placing Sedgefield at risk of a full water outage.

Separately, the SRA has been in direct engagement with the Head of the Joint Operations Centre (JOC), Johnny Douglas. Following discussions with the SRA, pressure was applied at the appropriate levels, contributing directly to progress on the pump repair.

In parallel, the SRA has been — and remains — in close, ongoing contact with local technician Calvin Jafta. His team was on site and actively working at 02:00 on Friday morning to install the repaired pump. While this work has stabilised the immediate situation, the critical shortage of a spare pump remains unresolved, a matter that was explicitly raised with the Minister.

Funding Used to Support Action on the Ground

At this stage, available municipal funds are being directed toward supporting work on the ground. Importantly, no SRA funds have been paid to any engineering contractors.

However, the SRA wishes to salute workers on the ground who demonstrated exceptional commitment during the crisis. Their efforts have certainly not gone unrecognised.

The SRA will further assist by making funds available should formal assistance be requested — in much the same way that the Minister has indicated that additional provincial support awaits a formal request from the municipality.

Given the repeated delays, administrative inaction, and the absence of basic contingency planning, the situation has been described by those involved as bordering on sabotage.

Accountability Beyond the Water Crisis

Beyond water, residents continue to endure unreliable refuse collection and severely deteriorating roads. After repeated and unsuccessful engagements with the municipality, the SRA has escalated matters and has submitted a formal complaint to the Office of the Public Protector.

The SRA has emphasised that it is not replacing the municipality, but acting decisively in the community’s interest where systems have failed. All spending will be transparently reported on, and costs will be recovered from the municipality where possible.

Residents are urged to remain water-wise, stay informed through official SRA channels, and assist where possible. Without the intervention of the Sedgefield Ratepayers Association, Sedgefield’s service delivery situation would already be far more severe.

Donations may be made to support emergency pump repairs:
Standard Bank
Account: 086 037 161
Reference: Pump repairs

* Alvin Witten is a resident of Sedgefield and a member of the Sedgefield Ratepayers Association.

Source link