Last night a water main pipe burst in my area and was fixed immediately. The new pressure of a fixed pipe caused a second burst further down the pipeline, so no water this morning. Frustrating, but a legacy of maintenance neglect for a hundred years. If the problem is underground, it is ignored.
The system is getting fixed, and it sounds like major refurbishment is happening in many municipalities. This was a reminder of how vital water is, and one thinks back to “Day Zero” when Cape Town nearly ran dry a few years ago.
Water is vital for agriculture and agriculture is one of the industries that helped us through Covid and is a major growth industry in the Western Cape. Millions are being invested in easy peel citrus and other export crops. The second biggest dam down here is Brandvlei, near Worcester and this dam irrigates 26 000 hectares of fruit trees and vines.
But by a quirk of inherited engineering genius, the dam can only be 73% full, due to a low wall of a feeding canal. In 2013, it was decided to spend R 20 Million to increase the height of the canal by 30 centimeters for four kilometers which would allow the dam to be 100% full. And add an additional irrigation capacity of 4 000 hectares and 10 000 new jobs.
How hard can it be?
Very hard is an obvious answer as the project has yet to be started despite “Day Zero” giving a warning on water shortages. 17 Departments needed to approve the project at both provincial and central government level. When this was achieved, the Central Government cut back on budgets and refused to finance the project, so Western Cape decide to pay for it. But the whole project has yet to get the rubber stamp from somewhere in Pretoria.
What can I say? Why can we not sort the simple things instead of talking about them. WTF come to mind.
Maybe we all need a holiday. Good idea, we will be closed from 15th December and will be back behind the desk on the 10th of January. I will look at emails in case of emergency but hoping that you and your loved ones will also be relaxing after a pretty torrid two years.
I know it is only November, but wishing you all a Blessed Christmas, especially my very many Christian friends and hope 2022 is kinder to us all.
Keep safe, it is not over yet.