Work at the Bushmanskrantz Water Treatment Works has ground to a halt.

• Two major water projects near Komani in the Eastern Cape have stalled because of a dispute over subcontracting small businesses.
• Local businesses say they are not getting a fair share of the work on the Poplar Grove and the the Bushmanskrantz (Zweledinga) water treatment works.
• The two projects are intended to benefit 30 villages, which are struggling with severe water shortages.

Two major water projects in Whittlesea, outside Komani in the Eastern Cape, have been halted since January because of a dispute over the subcontracting of small, local businesses.

The Poplar Grove and Bushmanskrantz (Zweledinga) water treatment works are meant to serve nearly 30 villages struggling with severe water shortages. Many rely on boreholes that often stand idle due to a lack of diesel.

“We are really struggling with water and we hoped these projects would help,” said Siyabulela Ningiza from Mchewula village. “Now they are closed and we don’t know when they will reopen. We have taps but they are dry.”

Both projects have faced repeated interruptions since construction began.

Work stopped in 2024 after residents protested, demanding jobs, but resumed once some villagers were hired. Then in June 2025, local business owners raised concerns about the share of work allocated to small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs).

Hewu Contractors Forum member Bongani Tabata said local businesses had applied for subcontracting opportunities but were overlooked. “None of the local small business owners were called for interviews. Instead, we saw a subcontractor already working on site,” he said.

He said the budget for Poplar Grove water treatment works, which started in August 2024, was R124-million, and for the Bushmanskrantz (Zweledinga) water treatment works, which started in November 2024, was R105-million. (Despite repeated inquiries, GroundUp was unable to confirm these figures with the municipality.)

Chris Hani District Municipality spokesperson Nangamso Ngceke said contractors are required to allocate 30% of the work to SMMEs, including subcontractors and local suppliers, but responsibility for appointing them “rests with the contractor”.

She confirmed the stoppage followed complaints from the forum and said the municipality is investigating.

Mcebisi Pala, CEO of ATG Tradings, the main contractor for Bushmanskrantz, said the site had been closed for safety reasons after workers were threatened and intimidated.

He said the process of appointing SMMEs has already been done and five subcontractors were appointed, and two are expected to be appointed at a later stage. He said the 30% allocation applied to small businesses across the Chris Hani district, not only those from the villages where the project is located.

Dave de Wet of Sinakho Consulting, the project’s consulting engineers, said the same – that SMMEs were appointed from the broader Chris Hani district.

But Pala disputed the claim, saying they had advertised what the project required, and the shortlisted applications were sent to the district municipality, “who selected the company to be appointed”.

Tabata said tenders were advertised twice, in August and October 2025. They had applied both times.

He said tensions rose when forum members discovered that a subcontractor working at the Bushmanskrantz site was not from the area.

But he denied that the forum had closed the construction sites.

“As community members we did not close the site. All we wanted was transparency because none of the people we know from our villages were appointed,” he said.

Work on the Poplar Grove Water Treatment Works is also stalled.

Tabata said the forum approached the district municipality, and a follow-up meeting was scheduled for 28 January. “Now the municipality is running away from us,” he said.

Ngceke confirmed the meetings and that the municipality had received a formal complaint from the Hewu Contractors Forum regarding SMME participation.

“However, subsequent developments occurred outside of the agreed process. The district municipality strongly condemns the manner in which this matter was handled,” she said. The municipality was trying to “secure a sustainable and lawful resolution” and to “accelerate the delivery of services to the intended communities”.

When GroundUp visited, both projects were closed and under security guards.

Thinasonke Maneli, a member of the project steering committee at Bushmanskrantz, said attempts since August to resolve the dispute had been unsuccessful.

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Parents of children at Bulelani High School outside Komani in the Eastern Cape protested last week, demanding the removal of the principal.

Parents at Bulelani High School outside Komani in the Eastern Cape say they will protest until the school principal is fired.

Principal Zine May was suspended towards the end of 2024 following allegations of misuse of school funds. An acting principal was appointed.

But, said parent Pumza Kalipa, May returned to the school during the 2025 end-of-year exams, without any explanation from the department.

“We contacted the department and officials came to the school. We were told that May was found guilty of misconduct and had served her punishment, which is why she returned,” she said.

“As parents, we made it very clear that we do not want her back at our school.We have been complaining about her since 2018,” she said.

On Monday 19 January parents staged a protest, disrupting classes and burning rubbish, demanding May’s removal. Kalipa said this followed the department’s failure to respond to a petition sent by parents last November.

The protest ended on Wednesday 21 January after the department agreed to temporarily remove May.

Eastern Cape Department of Education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima did not respond to questions about the investigation into May’s conduct. But he said parents had “asked the department to keep the principal at the district offices until the matter is resolved”.

On Tuesday 27 January department officials came to the school to address parents. May was not present. Parents said they did not want her back.

Nkosinathi Godlo, Chris Hani East District Director, told parents that they had decided to keep May away from the school until the matter is resolved. He confirmed that she had been found guilty of misusing school funds and said she had been fined. Godlo did not disclose the amount.

Parent Sandile Mthandeki said parents had taken a decision not to allow her back to their school.

“There’s no relationship between us parents and her,” he said.

The meeting, which lasted close to four hours, ended after Godlo assured parents that the matter was being attended to and that an acting principal would be appointed in the meantime.

Asked for comment, May asked GroundUp to contact her next week. She said tomorrow is her birthday and she just wanted to enjoy her day and not waste time commenting on schemes or plots against her.

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Residents of Komani (formerly Queenstown) marched to the municipal offices on Wednesday to demand that their electricity meters be unblocked. The municipality has blocked the meters until residents settle their municipal debt.

• Residents of Komani marched to the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality offices on Wednesday to protest about blocked electricity meters.
• Addressing the protesters, Mayor Madoda Papiyana said the meters would not be unblocked until residents had settled their debt.
• Protesters said they had suddenly received huge bills.
• The municipality acknowledged that some people had not been receiving municipal bills regularly.
• The municipality owes R1-billion to Eskom.

Komani residents marched to the municipal offices on Wednesday to protest against electricity cut-offs. But Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality Mayor Madoda Papiyana told residents he would not unblock their electricity meters until they had settled their debts to the municipality.

Residents of Mlungisi, Komani Central and Ezibeleni want the municipality to unblock electricity meters so that they can purchase prepaid electricity. They say they have struggled to buy electricity since the beginning of this year.

They say when they asked for clarity at the municipal offices they were told that their meters had been blocked because they owed money to the municipality and that the meters would only be unblocked once the debt was paid.

Some residents say they were told they owe the municipality more than R50,000.

Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality spokesperson Lonwabo Kowa said the municipality is implementing its credit control policy, which he described as a standard practice across municipalities to ensure rates are paid so that services can be rendered.

Kowa acknowledged that some residents had not received their rates bills which are sent via email or sms. He said the municipality does not have correct details for everyone. Residents had been asked to visit municipal offices to update their details.

He confirmed that similar actions had been taken in various areas of Enoch Mgijima, including Khayelitsha.

He said residents whose meters were blocked could make minimum payments to have services restored and could enter into payment agreements with the municipality.

Indigent households had been registered in line with the municipality’s indigent policy, and qualifying households received relief.

Residents who had missed registration should come forward, he said.

Nomathamsanqa Makhowa, 62, said she had been without electricity for two weeks. She said when she enquired at the municipality, she was told she owes R5,000. “I told them I don’t have R5,000 because I only survive on an old-age grant. I was told to pay at least R500 every month towards the debt,” she said.

Makhowa said she had to borrow R500 from a loan shark. “What the municipality is doing is not fair, and there was no notice. We can’t buy electricity,” she said.

Most people who attended the march were elderly. Some had to hire vehicles because they could not walk far.

Pumelele Ntwana, 67, said she received a bill of more than R200,000 late last year.

“When I went to enquire, I was told to pay at least 10%. As a family, we managed to raise R10,000 and paid it. We cannot pay more because I’m not working and my husband is 74 years old and also not working,” said Ntwana.

The marchers delivered a memorandum to the mayor demanding the immediate unblocking of electricity meters, the suspension of “unlawful credit control”, and the issuing of correct statements.

There was a tense exchange between residents and Papiyana after he questioned whether those attending the march had been sent by others or were representing themselves.

Residents were also angered when he reprimanded one elderly woman, saying she was too forward.

Papiyana said cases would be handled individually. “If your electricity meter number is blocked, you must go to the finance department to find out why,” he said.

Kowa said the municipality is rolling out 35,000 smart electricity meters to improve service delivery and reduce losses. So far, 15,000 meters have been installed.

He said the municipality owes Eskom more than R1-billion.

There were tense exchanges between Mayor Madoda Papiyana and the protesters.

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