More than 2 000 tourists at the Graskop Gorge were left high and dry on Christmas Day when the local municipality unexpectedly switched off water pumps in the area.
According to a WhatsApp message of unknown origin circling within the community, the pumps were switched off due to overflowing reservoirs.
Tourists complained when facilities like hotels, lodges, restaurants and tourist attractions they paid to frequent on one of the busiest public holidays of the year were unable to serve them due to the apparent unscheduled water outage.
Not only were the public toilets at Graskop Gorge’s numerous tourist attractions unusable, but only a small number of the patrons who had anticipated a delicious Christmas family lunch could be hosted.
Oupa Pilane, co-founder and director of the Graskop Gorge Lift Company, is furious and blames the peak season water outage on the Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM). He said the fact that there had been no prior notification of the water cut pointed to the municipality’s high level of incompetence.
“We [businesspeople] are playing our part to grow the economy in the Graskop area, but this is not the first time the water is shut off during the peak season without formal notification. Now we have the extra cost of installing additional water tanks,” said Pilane.
He lamented the fact that the negative reviews from tourists would not go to the municipality, but would have a knock-on effect on local businesses who rely on tourism to make ends meet and keep people employed.
Then, a day later, on Day of Goodwill (Thursday, December 26), the TCLM issued a public notice warning of water supply interruptions in parts of Graskop, this time due to mechanical failure in the motor powering the pump responsible for supplying water to the Fairyland reservoir.
Consequently, the notice read: “Residents in Oorwinning up to Hugenote streets, southern parts of Kerk Street and those along the pipeline to Glory Hills, Chinese houses and Ext 5 will be affected.”
Unfortunately, there was no replacement pump, and the residents would have to get their water from a water tanker that would be deployed to affected areas. This as the notice went on to say that the municipality’s technical team was attending to the problem while arrangements were being made to procure a replacement pump.
At the time of publication, the TCLM could not be reached for comment. The number provided with the public notice only allows callers to leave a recorded voice message. The option to speak to the operator malfunctioned every time Lowvelder tried to use it.
