DA BLAMES COALITION FOR DRY DAM!

Gqeberha– Nelson Mandela Bay is staring down the barrel of a man-made “Day Zero” as the city’s water system collapses under the weight of mismanagement.

Despite surviving a brutal drought only three years ago, the metro is back in the red. But this time, the DA’s Mayoral Candidate, Retief Odendaal, says the blame lies squarely with the municipality, not the clouds.

Shocking new figures reveal that the city cannot account for more than half of its bulk water. By September 2025, non-revenue water—water lost to leaks or not billed—hit a staggering 60.4%.

Dam Levels Dropping While the city bleeds water through broken pipes and leaking reservoirs, dam levels have plummeted to around 40%.

Odendaal slammed the current ANC/EFF coalition, stating that over R1 billion was previously invested in drought-mitigation projects to boost supply. However, that effort has been washed away by a lack of maintenance.

“The city is wasting most of its water and is effectively causing its own drought crisis,” Odendaal said. He added that money collected from residents through high “punitive” water tariffs isn’t being used to fix the crumbling infrastructure.

Minister Called To Step In The situation has become so dire that Odendaal has written to the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina, pleading for an urgent intervention.

The DA is calling for a Water Services Master Plan to identify which pipes need urgent repair. Odendaal argues that when the DA was in charge in 2023, they steered the city through the crisis, but the current administration has taken the metro back to “square one.”

The DA has promised that if they take back the majority, they will prioritise hiring engineers, plumbers, and artisans to plug the leaks and secure the city’s future.