The supply of water to the Eastern Cape’s most popular tourist destinations within the Amathole district municipality has reached crisis levels, with the municipality enforcing severe water-use restrictions to avert further shortages.
On Monday, the water-scarce municipality confirmed that the Cwili Dam, which supplies water to the coastal town of Kei Mouth outside East London, was at 0% capacity.
This led the municipality to implement water rationing.
ADM spokesperson Sisa Msiwa said the cause of declining dam levels was prolonged dry conditions and below-average rainfall.
Areas affected include Bedford, Hogsback, Kei Mouth, Chintsa, Willowvale and Mendu.
Msiwa said the high summer demand had led to limited recharging of small-surface water sources.
“In Kei Mouth particularly, the local dam has reached dead storage levels, meaning water can still be abstracted below the outlet level, but this is not sustainable in the medium to long term.
“Kei Mouth is already operating under a structured rationing schedule. Other affected areas may face restrictions should conditions worsen.
“Communities will be informed timeously as decisions are taken.”
On Monday afternoon, the municipality informed residents that water would be switched off from 8pm until 6am the following morning to conserve water.
“This schedule may change in line with water availability. We are pursuing all possible interventions to augment supply.
“Regular updates will be provided as the situation develops.”
Kei Mouth businessman Brandon Freitag said residents had been aware of the looming water shortage since the recent festive season.
“You start seeing the signs early that we’re going to be in trouble if we don’t have much rain.
“In December, we had already started communicating with guests and visitors to be water friendly and protect what they had.
“About three weeks ago, we started the water crisis group which is engaging with ADM to try to see what they’re doing and how they’re going about rectifying the situation.”
Freitag said the community had raised some money and had started fixing leaks.
“We’ve been trying to be proactive and get community members to use water sparingly and just try to protect it. But it’s been too little, too late.
“We now have a situation where there’s no water.
“It’s a massive concern because we’re getting weekend people coming in and we don’t have anything to offer.”
The municipality has also announced that the Bedford Dam, which supplies water to Nyarha near Adelaide, is empty.
The Chintsa dam, which supplies water to 2,500 households, has reached 35% of capacity.
The dam has been undergoing major renovations since 2023 when it was reported to have a serious leak.
Chintsa East’s Noluthando Simayile said though dam levels were low, supply had been stable in recent months.
“I understand the dam is being fixed, and we were told that the levels were low.
“I hope it can be fixed before it becomes a problem.”
Chintsa East Ratepayers’ Association chair Bongane Mpande said they were aware of the water shortage, and were running an awareness campaign to get residents to significantly reduce their usage.
At the current rate of consumption, ADM had warned the water supply would no longer be able to meet demand by May 1 2026.
“We remain engaged with ADM regarding ongoing remedial works to support a reliable water supply for the community.”
The Nqadu Dam in Willowvale, which supplies more than 7,000 families in villages under the Mbhashe municipality, has sunk to the critical level of 25%.
Linamandla Gobeni, a resident of Mboya village in Willowvale, said all local dams had been dry since 2025, with none filling up this year.
“There has been no rain for weeks, and the rivers are empty.”
He said the lack of water had left livestock without drinking water and was severely affecting farmers.
Gobeni said that when water was available, it ran for just a few hours, forcing villagers to fetch water from neighbouring villages.
“We are really struggling.”
He criticised the municipality for failing to intervene, saying water tankers could help during shortages but none had been dispatched so far.
“The situation is really bad and will only get worse if nothing is done.”
Msiwa emphasised that ADM did not operate a consolidated dam system.
Instead, many of the district’s smaller towns were supplied by their own local dams, which had limited storage capacity and were vulnerable to prolonged dry conditions.
Some of the areas supplied by the dams shared between ADM and Buffalo City Metro are currently stable.
The Sandile Dam is 79% full and the Wriggleswade Dam is 97% full.
“As part of mitigation measures ADM has implemented, several interventions, including abstraction from alternative sources such as rivers and streams where feasible, as well as equipping and commissioning of boreholes and spring supplies.”
Msiwa urged communities, the business sector, public and private stakeholders to use water sparingly.
“We also urge everyone to make water their business and report leaks, bursts and illegal connections.”
You start seeing the signs early that we’re going to be in trouble if we don’t have much rain
Brandon Freitag
