Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality — home to over 1.2 million people in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), Despatch, and Uitenhage — came within weeks of Day Zero in 2022, with combined dam levels dropping to a catastrophic 12%. The metro was losing 80 million litres of treated water per day — enough to supply a medium-sized city — through leaking infrastructure, illegal connections, and unpaid consumption.
The R3.5 billion Nooitgedacht bulk water scheme, which was supposed to provide long-term water security by connecting the metro to the Orange River system, was plagued by delays, cost overruns, and contractor disputes. Construction that should have been completed years earlier dragged on while the crisis deepened. Phase 2 of the scheme was repeatedly deferred as costs escalated.
Political instability made any coherent response impossible. The metro cycled through eight mayors in five years — a consequence of coalition politics and factional infighting between the ANC, DA, and smaller parties. Each new mayor arrived with different priorities and different patronage obligations. Long-term water infrastructure planning requires consistent leadership over years; Nelson Mandela Bay could barely maintain leadership for months.
The crisis disproportionately affected poor communities in townships like KwaZakhele and Motherwell, where bucket systems and communal taps were the only water sources. Middle-class suburbs installed boreholes and JoJo tanks. The constitutional guarantee of access to water — the very foundation of the city named after South Africa's greatest icon — became a privilege determined by wealth.