Four incomplete projects in the Mnquma Local Municipality discourage critical investment in rural towns, leaving residents at boiling point
Many roads in the rural Eastern Cape are riddled with potholes and inaccessible. Picture: EUGENE COETZEE/THE HERALD
This problem is worsened by provincial government and municipal officials who are shamelessly unaccountable, and residents who are unwilling to punish officials at the ballot box for corruption and gross incompetence. The four incomplete projects are the resealing of the pothole-riddled 31km R409 road between Butterworth and Centane; the Mnqumashe Abattoir; the Ibika-Centane Bulk Water Supply project; and the 16,5km Tsomo-Butterworth water pipeline. In total, these projects are worth just over R1bn.
This project, if completed, has the potential to open the Wild Coast beaches of Qolora and Mazeppa to tourism, if the tarred road from Centane can be extended to these beaches. This is the largest of the four projects, which is also central to Mnquma’s economic survival. The pipeline project started in 2016 at the height of the drought that was gripping SA, which led to taps running dry in Butterworth.
The project, which is estimated to cost R735m to construct, has three major components: a 16.5km pipeline; a reservoir; and an abstraction and water treatment works, which will be in the town of Tsomo in the Chris Hani District Municipality. The likelihood of another showdown between residents and government is high if the project is not completed and water shortages persist.