Polokwane overview
Polokwane: No water, no play April 2019 saw me head off to Polokwane to get a better understanding of the malaise being caused by continued issues with water delivery. Recently, Property Review took to cyberspace and the good old telephone to find out what, if anything, has improved in the past year. We zoomed in on SAPOA’s Polokwane Regional Chairman Paul Altenroxel, SAPOA’s “resident” town planner Jaco du Plessis, Franco Marx of Franco Marx Attorneys, DA council member Frank Haas and young entrepreneur Zeus Maboho By Mark Pettipher To read last year’s roundup, go to bit.ly/2UgcVQx
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icking up from where we left off last year, my first Zoom landing was Paul Altenroxel. He got straight to the point: Polokwane is in crisis. “Water is the life blood of the city, and we’re on the brink of seriously running short,” he said. “I can say this with certainty, as from where I’m sitting, I overlook the Ebenezer Dam. It looks like it’s at about 26% of capacity, and we’re at the end of our rainy season (typically January through March). “Polokwane’s water crisis is a man-made disaster – a combination of a number of events, starting with unfinished work on the Tzaneen Dam. Work had been initiated on the dam wall, to heighten it, but the contractors have since abandoned the project, leaving the dam only capable of holding 60% of its capacity. Today, the level is reported to be at 7.2%.” Altenroxel is deeply concerned that few dams have been built in the past 30 years, and that the rapid increase in human habitation of the urban edge, coupled with lack of financing and maintenance of existing infrastructure, will continue to strain an already stretched municipality. In a recent Polokwane Review newspaper article dated 4–10 March, Nelie Erasmus reports as follows: “The city now receives less than half of the usual supply of bulk water needed for normal water usage, as further restrictions were imposed upon Lepelle Northern Water’s extraction from the Olifantspoort and Ebenezer Dam by the Department of Water and Sanitation in January.” The article echoes Altenroxel’s concern that, “if heavy rains do not
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SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW – APRIL 2020
