Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning

19.(a)(i) Water Services

               The current water service challenges in Knysna include:

•  Pollution of water sources due to blockages and overflowing sewage infrastructure.
• Insufficient potable water storage capacity and inefficient reservoir design.
• Poor water quality when reservoir levels drop, allowing sediment contamination.
• Frequent pipe bursts and losses in areas like Hornlee.
• Delays in reservoir cleaning and maintenance.
• Underinvestment in infrastructure maintenance and development.

Electricity Services

Electricity supply has not been a primary concern or rank high on the list of challenges experienced in Knysna.

      Waste Services

•  An aged fleet of waste collection vehicles are not undergoing preventative maintenance, resulting in many breakdowns of multiple vehicles affecting service delivery in regular collection of waste from residents and businesses.
•  The Knysna Waste Transfer Station (WTS), which is located on Transnet property, has also not been maintained and had major mechanical breakdowns in 2023. This resulted in waste stockpiled outside the facility, which is a violation in terms of NEMA’s Duty of Care and resulted in Directives issued against the municipality. The breakdowns have been addressed, and waste is currently processed inside the facility.
•  The WTS also has several illegal occupants living on the premises which is also a violation.
•  The WTS needs to be relocated and authorised in terms of Norms and Standards as Transnet has issued an eviction order to the municipality as it wants to develop the land currently occupied by the WTS.
• The WTS requires a functional hooklift truck to hook, lift and transport the waste containers from the transfer station
• The WTS is at its current location due to its proximity for rail transportation to the PetroSA landfill site in Mossel Bay. Rail has not been in use for many years and road transport has been the only means for waste to be transported from Knysna to Mossel Bay, at high cost.
• Knysna Municipality has still not signed the Memorandum of Agreement with the Garden Route District Municipality for the disposal of waste at the new Regional Landfill site in Mossel Bay.
• The Sedgefield Garden Refuse and Recycling facility has been poorly operated and managed, leading to many complaints from the Sedgefield community.
• The informal community residing in the Sedgefield Dunes area have no waste services and results in illegal dumping of waste in an environmentally sensitive area.

           (ii) Since 2018, the Department of Local Government (DLG) has engaged Knysna Municipality continuously to support water service delivery, including:

• Conducting a Diagnostic Assessment and drafting support plans in 2018 and again in 2020.
• Visiting the municipality in 2023 to assess water and pollution challenges, facilitated emergency water tanker support during water shortages, and provided back-up generators for water pumps during load shedding.
• From November 2023, DLG engineers undertook detailed assessments at pump stations and water treatment works to address pollution and water losses.
• By December 2023, the Department developed and workshopped a Section 154 Support Plan to help Knysna overcome its water service delivery backlogs.
• The Department also supported Knysna in registering two water and sanitation projects for MIG funding and facilitated the formation of a Water Quality Working Group in February 2024.
• Technical support has been ongoing with regular site visits and assistance with water resilience measures.
• The Department allocated over R9.7 million in Water Resilience Grant funding to Knysna in 2024.
• Knysna Municipality used a portion of the allocated funding to purchase pumps for its major pump station (Charlesford Pump Station) resulting in a more stable water supply and fewer water service disruptions.
• It conducted hands-on support through the Section 154 Support Plan Steering Committee and the Infrastructure Work Group.
• In December 2024, DLG seconded a departmental employee to Knysna to drive the acceleration of water infrastructure projects.
• DLG continues to liaise directly with Knysna’s technical teams to implement water infrastructure upgrades and ensure sustainability.

The Department of Environmental Affairs & Development Planning’s Director: Waste Management had a number of engagements with the Council, Mayco, Councilors and stakeholders in terms of addressing the issues affecting all. This included providing guidance in terms of the relocation of the Waste Transfer Station, factors that needed to be taken into consideration when assessing Waste to Energy proposals and the feasibility thereof, and general communique through the established Waste Management Officer’s Forum, which is chaired by the Director: Waste Management. DEA&DP have also set up a first round of engagements and a co-design workshop by reprioritized budgets to address the community of Smutsville, Sedgefield in seeking solutions to their waste challenges. A follow-up meeting with the community will be undertaken on a date still to be confirmed in this year. The Lakes area is not under the jurisdiction of WCG but DFFE, but due to no intervention taking place and a plea from the Ratepayers Association and Councilors from the region, the Director: Waste Management requested his Waste Policy and Minimisation staff to intervene and engage through these workshops. 

DEA&DP reviewed and supported the application from Knysna Municipality on 23 November 2023 for a Hooklift truck from MIG funding, in a letter which the Director: Waste Management submitted to national DFFE on 1 December 2023. This was supported by DFFE in their correspondence submitted on 6 December 2023. The former Waste Management Officer from Knysna Municipality and their Project Management Unit was to call for an emergency Council Meeting to approve the application, but this never materialized.

(b)(i) In December 2023 a diagnostic assessment was conducted in order to understand and uncover the root causes of the challenges the Municipality is experiencing. This assessment involved the Knysna municipal officials and a multi-disciplinary team of subject matter experts from the Department of Local Government (the “Department”), Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP) and the Garden Route Disaster Management Centre. The Provincial Treasury also assessed municipal finances and had several engagements with relevant municipal officials. Following the assessment, the Department prepared a Diagnostic Report and Support Plan (“Section 154 Support Plan”) in line with section 154 of the Constitution.  The Municipal Council adopted the 2024 Diagnostic Report and Support Plan on 1 March 2024.

DEA&DP and the Department provided direct assistance to the Municipality in drafting a Consolidated Executive Obligations’ Monitoring and Enforcement Framework (“CEOMEF plan”), to mitigate the continuous failure by the Municipality to execute its executive obligations. On 06 June 2024, the Municipal Council voluntarily adopted the CEOMEF Plan.

The Provincial Government has supported the Municipality through the deployment of an engineer over various periods to assist with agreed tasks, facilitated private sector support through the Knysna business chamber, arranged for water tankers and refuse removal vehicles to increase temporary capacity in order to ensure continued service delivery and prevent a crisis, and provided funding through the water and energy resilience Grant.

The Provincial Government has supported the Municipality with its implementation of the activities outlined in the section 154 Support Plan and CEOMEF Plan. 

(ii) The outcome of this support includes:

• Improved water storage capacity, and pollution control.
• Enhanced capacity for water service planning and technical project implementation.
• Strengthened coordination between DLG, Knysna, and key stakeholders such as SANParks and the Garden Route District Municipality to manage water resilience.
• Improved reliability of water services through generator backup at pump stations and water tanker support during crises.
• Improved operations at the Knysna WTS.
• A detailed formal process is underway for the establishment of a new WTS.
• Strengthened collaboration between the Smutsville community, academia, the Department and municipality in seeking waste solutions through the co-design workshop held.