Kuyga is a prominent residential settlement located in the Greenbushes area, on the western outskirts of Gqeberha.
Read More about Kuyga here: https://nmbwiki.co.za/Kuyga
Last week I had the opportunity to visit Kuyga (for work).
Part of the visit involved visting a primary school and an adjacent creche.
Both of these had been recipients of boreholes and water tanks for the school and greater community.
Gift of the Givers installed the water tanks and borehole at Kuyga Primary School in mid-2022, during the height of the Nelson Mandela Bay water crisis.
As “Day Zero” loomed and the “red zone” (the western areas of the city, including Greenbushes) faced imminent dry taps, the organization launched an aggressive water augmentation program. The Kuyga project was part of their initiative to drill roughly 30 boreholes at strategic community institutions like schools, clinics, and police stations.
The borehole at Kuyga Primary was drilled to provide a sustainable groundwater source that bypassed the failing municipal grid.
Several large JoJo tanks were installed on the school grounds to store the pumped groundwater.
True to their “water spread” strategy, these tanks weren’t just for the school and crèche; they were modified with external taps to allow residents of the Kuyga settlement to collect clean drinking water without having to wait for municipal water tankers.
Kuyga was a priority because it was one of the first areas to lose water pressure entirely whenever the Churchill and Impofu dams hit critical lows.
As we approach mid 2026 – 4 years after the Gift of the Givers generous donation – I arrived at Kuyga Primary on Friday.
With the midday call to prayer vibrating in my head I took a little walk around the school to see just how well the borehole and tanks had served the community.
To my shock and horror:
- Every single water tank had been vandalised
- Every single borehole pump had been stolen
- The primary school’s gas tanks had been stolen
- The creche was working on ONE Plug – all the cables had been stolen for the rest of the installation
- Every single outside tap for the community fed by the boreholes had been stolen.
What hope do the children have when they see their adults stealing out of the mouths of babes and letting the wider community go thirsty?
In a nod to the rampant crime I observed that the Rain lattice tower had some really heavy duty walls, razor wire and even a special aluminium conductor transformer installed in the quest to remain of service to the community.
Sadly, I think we will be back once the criminals have worked out a plan.
