The Knysna Council declared the greater Knysna municipal area as a local disaster area in terms of the Disaster Management Act, Act 57 of 2002.
Knysna Executive Mayor, Thando Matika confirmed that Council made the decision during a special Council meeting held today, 16 January 2026. “This allows for much needed national and provincial interventions. “It also allows the Mayor to authorise unforeseen and unavoidable expenditure in emergency or exceptional circumstances for which no provision was made in the approved budget.”
Matika said that the overall coordination of the water-stressed/state of emergency will be dealt with according to the Knysna Municipality Disaster Management Plan. “The Garden Route District Disaster Management Centre will, in consultation with the Knysna Local Disaster Management Unit, coordinate the short- and medium-term interventions required to address the crises. The Department of Agriculture will also be requested to conduct an urgent assessment report on the agricultural areas within the Knysna municipal area to establish the impact of the drought on this sector.”
“As reported earlier, we are developing a comprehensive water augmentation programme to increase supply, along with our provincial and national government partners,” said Matika. “Specialist teams from the provincial government and the private sector have been conducting geohydrological assessments and engineering studies to ensure interventions are both effective and environmentally responsible.”
Several augmentation projects are underway, and Matika said these are expected to be operational within the next two weeks. “These include developing the Bigai and Bongani springs and refurbishing seven existing boreholes to provide a combined yield of approximately 3,2 megalitres per day. An additional seven new boreholes will be drilled, providing an anticipated yield of an additional 2,7 megalitres per day. Additional augmentation projects are currently being investigated.”
“We are concluding an agreement with PG Bison, which has offered access to additional boreholes with an estimated yield of 3 megalitres per day,” added Matika. “Once fully implemented, the total expected yield from all current augmentation initiatives equates approximately 11 megalitres of potable water per day.”
“The total cost of these interventions is estimated at R58 million, underscoring the scale and urgency of the disaster. Declaring a local disaster not only allows the Mayor to authorise relevant unforeseen and unavoidable expenditure but opens the door to financial assistance from provincial and/or national governments. A funding application was submitted to the Department of Water and Sanitation on 14 January 2026 to cover some of the cost, and final feedback on the outcomes is pending.”
Matika said these measures is key to securing additional supply in our very near and medium-term future.” “While we work to implement these initiatives, we must acknowledge that Day Zero is approaching. The only way to postpone, or even avoid Day Zero, is to drastically and immediately reduce water consumption. Only residents can decide how much water they use – it is now literally your choice: reduce water consumption or wait for Day Zero, when everyone will have to queue for a daily personal ration. Day Zero does not mean that Knysna will run out of water, it means that the reticulation system will be shut down to avoid total collapse.”
The main off-channel bulk water storage dam, Akkerkloof Dam, is used as the barometer to determine the status quo of water demand and provision to consumers in the municipal area. “This critical source of potable water has shown a steady decline over the last two months. As of today the dam is at approximately 15% capacity. At the current abstraction and consumption rates, this equates to approximately ten days of water remaining in the bulk supply infrastructure. The situation has been significantly exacerbated by the absence of meaningful rainfall within the municipal area, before yesterday.”
“The area received around 50mm of rain, but this is insufficient to overcome current supply challenges. It has taken into account in our calculations. The water supply is supplemented through continued abstraction from the Glebe Dam – currently at 60%, equating six days’ supply – and contributions from the Bigai spring and additional boreholes.”
Municipal initiatives to reduce water demand include the installation of conventional water meters to ensure the approximately 8,000 bypassed meters are reconnected to accurately measure consumption. “Law enforcement officials will be deployed, and level 4 restrictions will be communicated, monitored and intensified. Flow restrictors will be installed for users who are not adhering to the level 4 water restrictions.”
“Water lost as a result of pipe bursts and other failing infrastructure remains a big problem,” Matika admitted. “I urge residents to report burst or leaking pipes, as well as suspected water abuse.
The appointment of additional temporary plumbing teams has been finalised with five additional plumbers, six water meter installers and 30 general assistants to ensure response times to major pipe bursts are reduced to 4-6 hours.”
“Council acknowledges, with great appreciation, the support already received from the Western Cape Department of Local Government, the Breede-Olifants Catchment Management Agency, and the National Department of Water and Sanitation.”
The Ministry of Water and Sanitation has urged the Knysna Local Municipality to expedite the process of declaring the town a disaster area to enable responsible authorities to reprioritise resources.
Other major stakeholders include the Garden Route District Municipality and District Disaster Management Centre, the Western Cape Provincial Disaster Management Centre, the National Disaster Management Centre, the National Department of Water and Sanitation, the Western Cape Department of Local Government, the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, the Departments of Health & Education, the South African Weather Service, private sector partners (including PG Bison), Knysna Infrastructure Group, Asivikelane, Gift of the Givers, community stakeholders and ward committees.
“We are working at maintaining and improving our infrastructure, but we urgently need our residents to further reduce water consumption,” Matika concluded. “We have measures in place to limit unnecessary loss of potable water, but the public must remember that water is a limited resource. At this stage, we must all work together and conserve what we have for as long as we can. You decide – use less water now to prevent Day Zero or join the queue for your daily ration.”