August 2026 Newsletter

The question sometimes arises as to which areas do BRRAG serve. We are proudly serving Boesmansriviermond Old Village including Coral Gardens, Bushman’s Creek and Bushman’s Estate. We serve Riversbend and any other area falling within Ndlambe municipal ward 3, residents of which would like to be part of BRRAG. Please remember that we also welcome residents and holidaymakers who do not necessarily have to be property owners. We can all work together to make this a holiday town to be proud of.

Our brand-new buoy! May no-one ever drown again…

Please help by making sure how to use the buoy & emergency number and perhaps show the local kids too, checking that no-one plays with it and donating cozzies & towels for the Survival Swimming programme. Mel (at the Slipway kiosk) offered to help with this too. Thank you so much to the donors and Werner & Hank who came from Port Alfred to plant this pink beauty.
Thanks to Gerda Joubert for organising and raising the funds!

(Note from Anne Atken)

Peter Chowles (yes, he of Bilo’s) commenced planning and upgrading the cemeteray some tine ago. Our BRRAG staff members with the help of hired in temps under the supervision of Robbie Schroeder performed a sterling job in clearing the area. They worked there for two weeks and were assited by Cas Catelyn with the removal of truck loads of green refuse. Thank you guys.

Peter arranged for some donations to get the project under way and the near end result is this:

Thank you to each and every one involved in this upgrade of out town. Members who wish to contribute financially (as there is more work to be done), can do so by paying into the BRRAG account (see below) with reference your name and Cemetery.

Various ratepayer organisations in Ndlambe provided detailed input into the IDP.

When the final IDP was received, comments were provided by various ratepayer organisations. Ndlambe municipal manager issued a generic high-level response, which was not what ratepayers expected or requested, since they wanted critical issues addressed.

Critical areas remain unresolved.

The misrepresentation of ratepayer interests in the current model of councillor representation, which in main ignores ratepayer needs and issues were raised.

Above inflation rate burden is becoming unbearable, unaffordable and is unacceptable to ratepayers, which is marked by growing service delivery failures.

There is growing resistance against the ever-increasing rates and taxes which is exacerbated by increased failure of service delivery with no or inadequate feedback and response received from municipal officials on critical issues raised.

BRRAG launched a petition regarding water service delivery and followed the prescribed municipal procedure. No response was received despite various letters and follow up with the speaker and mayor’s office. We have now taken this unresponsive conduct up with the Public Protector.

KOSRA has criticized Ndlambe Municipality’s response to budget and IDP submissions, alleging the municipality ignored objections to above-inflation rate hikes and failed to address severe service delivery failures. Furthermore, officials are accused of implementing above-inflation rate increases despite disregarding detailed objections and missing reporting deadlines on critical financial data and performance metrics. Residents characterized the response as a vague, consultant-style document that lacks concrete timelines for essential infrastructure maintenance and fails to publish key financial documents.

Significant infrastructure gaps include historical maintenance deficits in water and power, along with unassessed, dilapidated municipal buildings. Furthermore, the lack of a comprehensive asset management plan and a prioritized repair framework hinder effective, continuous infrastructure maintenance. Ndlambe Municipality faces criticism for failing to maintain core water, sanitation, and electricity infrastructure while failing to provide concrete timelines for repairs.

Ndlambe Municipality faces critical governance failures, including missed deadlines, missing key budget documents along with unexplained above-target rate hikes. Additionally, infrastructure projects lack accountability, with standard operational duties presented as new initiatives and performance metrics for officials remaining undisclosed.

Based on the provided correspondence, the plea for future action demands immediate municipal transparency and direct accountability to the residents.

Demands for Transparency and Documentation

• Publish Required Records: Immediately upload the Final SDBIP 2026/27, final budget, final IDP, and the promised July 2026 Service Delivery Implementation Booklet to the municipal website.
• Disclose Performance Metrics: Fully disclose the specific Key Result Areas (KRAs), deadline dates and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the responsible Executive Directors.
• Provide Status Reports: Furnish an immediate status report tracking the performance of officials against the infrastructure goals referenced in the Municipal Manager’s letter.

Accountability and Response Requirements

• Itemized Feedback: Deliver a detailed, point-by-point response to all specific objections raised in KOSRA’s original submission, rather than a generalized summary.
• Justify Rate Calculations: Provide the missing economic reasoning for rejecting National Treasury’s CPI rate and setting an above-inflation rate hike.
• Enforce Strict Oversight: Halt performance bonuses for officials who are merely fulfilling their basic job descriptions, ensuring that future assessments are tied strictly to rolling infrastructure plans.

Ratepayer organisations are experiencing mounting pressure from their members regarding service delivery, matters raised and the lack of feedback & response provided by municipal officials.

The current service delivery model is not sustainable which requires continued consultation and action with Ndlambe municipality by all community organisations to bring about the desired change required.

Water in South Africa

Water provision to the South African population is in crisis with government intervention on many fronts yet it seems like a losing battle due to structural and other issues will not be resolved soon. A national Water Action Plan was unveiled by the president which will be managed by a high-level committee, modelled on the plan for load shedding.

Water in Ndlambe Wards 3 & 4

Ndlambe Wards 3 & 4 (Boesmans and Kenton) face the same crisis, which is deepening from a management, production, supply and distribution point of view. Influx of more permanent residents and housing development by Ndlambe without taking provision for water availability and sanitation services exacerbates the situation.

The crisis in Wards 3 & 4 is self-made, so any future solution is a function of proper strategy, management and control.

Wards 3 & 4 are different from the rest of SA in the sense that water availability is not from rain or dams but from reverse osmosis, which is dependent on a proper water strategy, maintenance, management, electricity supply, effective water production and the maintenance of a water distribution network.

Ndlambe municipality is the Water Service Authority (WSA) who appoints the Water Service Provider (WSP) and is accountable for the total water situation.

Current water situation in Wards 3 & 4

• There is no proper and agreed long term water strategy in place, a fragmented and desperate survival system is at play.
• Demand for water is growing beyond supply capacity and capability.
• Water production is inadequate for the growing demand.
• Water losses from the aging and badly managed and maintained as well as a mapped distribution system is uncontrolled.
• Water hammers from opening and closing of water is decimating the fragile system.
• Current water factory capacity and state of equipment is unsuitable to provide the required volumes of water.
• Theft, vandalism and destruction of infrastructure of Ndlambe and homeowners continue to grow and is not properly addressed.
• Ndlambe is charging increased fixed fees above inflation for water availability,
• Huge volumes of water are lost through leaks and other issue, which lead to huge financial losses.
• Hundreds of cattle are consuming vast quantities of unmetered and unpaid water.
• Revenue from water sales is shrinking since Ndlambe is unable to provide water and residents are becoming more self-reliant.
• Large volumes of water are carted around with little control and at a huge cost to the municipality and ratepayers.
• Ratepayers are paying for water availability: some have not had municipal water for days, months and even years.
• Ratepayers are paying water usage while for air from taps are metred.
• Water quality fluctuated in the past with TDS levels out of specification, the current situation is unknown.
• The Water Management and Technical task team were abandoned resulting in the community having minimal input.
• Breakdown of trust and communication resulting in residents not kept informed and questions remain unanswered. There is growing frustration in all communities
• Maintenance of the water distribution system are not keeping up with the leaks, and the same leaks often have to be repaired again and again resulting in waste of materials and manpower.
• Some of the infrastructure was installed without proper authorisation and impact studies for which authorisations are in process years after installations were done.
• BRRAG launched a petition regarding water service delivery and followed the prescribed municipal procedure. No response was received despite various letters and follow up with the Speaker and Mayor’s office. The uncooperative conduct of these officials has now been escalated to the office of the Public Protector.

The ACRO water factory in Bushman’s River Mouth was designed and established with a much smaller population and water demand and did not keep up with the growth in water demand. The factory is situated in a social and environmental sensitive area, which is unsuitable and not intended or zoned for industrial use.

Some of the challenges are:

• Water is drawn from the estuary which is protected, very sensitive and facing huge siltation issues which may be exacerbated by uncontrolled water extraction.
• Water is extracted from sensitive ecological SANPark dune fields.
• Increased brine return into the sensitive estuary as part of the manufacturing process.
• CPP chemicals are pumped into the estuary.
• Unsightly installations (sea wells, pipes, cables, buildings, concrete blocks) in the estuary and SANPark dune areas.
• Danger of over extraction of water from the dune fields which result in the encroachment of sea water towards the land area.
• Unsightly, dilapidated and dangerous asbestos factory buildings.
• Noise and vibration pollution from the water factory.
• Redundant infrastructure remains and is not removed (buildings, pipes, reservoir, concrete blocks, etc).

Over the years, the water factory was merely expanded with no proper strategic planning or the required social and environmental consideration.

Around the year 2000 when the new expanded water factory was installed it was done unprofessionally and without all the environmental, social impact permissions and studies required by law. Some residents challenged the developments and the impact to no avail.
Further expansion of the water factory and water extraction from the Bushman’s estuary and sensitive dune fields will lead to more transgressions and social and environmental harm.

The ACRO water factory is not sustainable in its current position over the longer term.
Success factors.

Sustainability and future successful water provision is dependent on:

• Proper Strategic Water Strategy considering the current challenges and positioning of the water factory for the future.
• Adequate funding planning and provision.
• Proper water billing not only for ratepayers.
• Professional management of the production component.
• Effective planning and management of the water distribution network.
• Adequate water storage at strategic points.
• Establish a second desalination factory in a less sensitive area.
• Social and Environmental compliance and protocol
• Extended PPP business model which is transparent
• Community communication and consultation.
• Utilize other water sources such as borecoles, dams, etc.
• Build storage capacity in the communities to mitigate unreliable water provision and peak period demand.
• Obtain proper funding for a proper water strategy.
• Appoint suitably qualified and dedicated people to manage water provision.

As individuals, we have no voice, it is critical to be a member of and support your community organisations, who are in constant discussions and collaboration to support the failing system.

We have commenced submitting a daily water reticulation log to Ndlambe. We note what is reported on the BRRAG WhatsApp group and add it to the log. Please also report when a problem reported by you has been resolved so that we can update the log. We are also following up our petition that has had no response from the official responsible, the Speaker of Ndlambe council. We have now reported the Speaker’s inaction to the Public Protector. Let’s hope that it will lead to something.

First Prize R 1025 – Linky Minnaar
Second – R 680 – Helen Somers
Third – R 494 – Des Alcock
Congrats to our winners. If you are not a member of the 100 club, please send a message so that we can join you to the group.

Garbage is collected as follows:
Riversbend – Mondays.
Boesmans Old Village – Tuesdays.
River Road – Wednesdays.

BRRAG Account
STANDARDD BANK
Acc. 281116393