Western Cape allocates R750k for Goedverwacht water repairs

Western Cape province has allocated R750 000 for repairs to critical water infrastructure in the Moravian missionary town of Goedverwacht, near Piketberg in the Berg River Municipality.

The infrastructure was damaged following the recent heavy rains and flooding in the area.

As a result, residents were cut off from their only source of water for several days.

The only source of water for residents of Goedverwacht was cut off recently, due to heavy rains and flooding.

The missionary town was established in the late 1800s and is home to more than 2 000 people.

Maintenance of critical infrastructure for basic services such as water and electricity are one of the major challenges the town faces.

The Western Cape Government has now made funds available to assist with repairs.

Provincial Minister for Local Government Anton Bredell says, “We are halfway up the mountains and the weir has been blocked, because  of the sand coming down the mountain, we as a provincial government decided to make R750 000 available so that we can fix the inlet, open it up and then there are still old asbestos piping that still needs to be replaced.”

Bergriver Municipal Mayor, Ray van Rooy, says that residents of Goedverwacht had to rely on water tankers when they were cut off from the water from the river.

“We have water tanks in the area that we placed in strategic places and as a municipality we fill up the tanks. The Minister promised us a grant and we received a grant from the Minister’s office so that we can start helping the people of this historic town.”

Residents such as Vanessa Booys say they’ve been struggling with water supply issues for years.

They say the elderly suffer the most because the water points are far from their homes.

Booys explains: “We are all struggling especially the elderly.”

The land that the town of Goedverwacht is situated on belongs to the Moravian Church.

Long term solutions to fix the town’s infrastructure will require the church, residents and government to come up with a unified plan.