Mchunu says the Department’s interventions include assisting struggling municipalities with financial challenges, skills as well as other necessary resources. He told the media in Pretoria that sufficient efforts have been made to avert the looming day zero in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape.

The looming day zero water challenges in parts of the Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape caused the government to hit the ground running.

Mchunu says, “I must say that since we intervened in about April, there’s been progress in Nelson Mandela and the municipality has been improving in a number of areas. We’ve been able to avert day zero and been able to up our game including the Kuga Municipality and deal with our processes. So we are happy we have progressed. But there are a number of interventions, medium and long term, that we need to aim at.”

Mchunu has cautioned residents of Gqeberha to respect the water restriction rules and use water sparingly to minimize the challenge.

SABC