DA demands probe into Sedgefield water outage

By Thapelo Molefe

The DA has called for an investigation into a prolonged water outage in Sedgefield, accusing the ANC-led coalition government in Knysna of infrastructure mismanagement.

DA Knysna mayoral candidate Levael Davis said the disruption to the water supply system during a recent storm-related power failure was preventable and stemmed from the municipality’s failure to maintain critical infrastructure.

Davis said a backup generator at the Sedgefield water facility was not operational when electricity outages disrupted pumping operations, despite repeated maintenance requests from local teams.

“What we witnessed was not a natural disaster but the consequence of serious infrastructure mismanagement under the ANC-led coalition government,” Davis said.

He said a similar outage had occurred the previous week, but no repairs were carried out on the generator before the latest incident.

According to the DA, the failure meant water pumps could not continue operating during the electricity outage, leaving reservoirs unable