Faecal bacteria still polluting Grahamstown’s drinking water
Makana’s Dali Mlenzana says the council is still unsure about residual bacteria and has advised all residents to continue boiling tap water for the next two weeks
Some residents of Grahamstown and other parts of Makana municipality have been without access to clean water for months. This follows the discovery by independent laboratories in mid-May that levels of E.coli in Makana’s drinking water supply were unsafe. This sparked outrage among local residents and civil society organisations, who accuse the municipality of inefficiency and mismanagement. The problem was first raised publicly by the social development, infrastructure development and technical services portfolio committees who‚ on May 16 and 17, highlighted that high levels of E.coli — a bacterium indicating contamination by faeces or sewage‚ which can cause a number of illnesses — was found in the water supply. This raised questions over Makana’s management of water-supply infrastructure and sanitation. Only after these concerns were raised during the committees’ meeting did officials explain that they had not been testing the water‚ and did not have the necessary chemicals to tr...
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