Villiersdorp Water Crisis

🚨 Villiersdorp Water Crisis: A Call for Community Action – 04-03-2026

Villiersdorp is facing a critical water emergency. The situation has escalated to the point where urgent intervention is required to safeguard our town’s water supply.

From the Chairman of the Villiersdorp Chamber of Commerce and Ratepayers Association:

Six months ago, we met with the Municipality to raise alarm over Villiersdorp’s deteriorating water infrastructure. At the time:

• Neither of the town’s boreholes were operational
• The Kommissiekraal River extraction infrastructure had been vandalised
• The town was exceeding its water quota from the Elandskloof Irrigation System

This overuse triggered threats from the Irrigation Board to cut off excess supply. Today, the crisis has deepened: farmers have had their quotas reduced by 30%, and the risk of losing municipal water access looms large.

In response, the Municipality drilled a new borehole and reinstated the Kommissiekraal infrastructure. However, they failed to procure a pump or plan for its connection to the purification plant.

Our association stepped in. We funded the removal of the second borehole’s pump, with the understanding that the Municipality would cover repairs. Unfortunately, the pump is beyond repair and must be replaced. A recent discussion with the Director of Infrastructure suggests that delays in municipal procurement could be lengthy—potentially worsening the crisis.

We are now considering purchasing the pump ourselves and are appealing to the community to assist with donations to allow us to obtain the pump, install and activate it. But this would deplete our funds, especially after already committing and having spent over R30 000-00 on the removal and replacement effort.

We are urgently requiring donations from the community to assist with this infrastructure maintenance so that we can secure water supply to the town, and ensure that our taps do not run dry, so please consider clicking on the above Donate Now button and contributing anything that you are able to this cause.

Ralph Sheffield-Webb

Chairman: Villiersdorp Chamber of Commerce and Ratepayers Association

From the Chairman of Villiersdorp Tourism:

At our recent board meeting, we explored how Tourism Villiersdorp could support this urgent cause and reach out to assist the town with a donation drive.

Our financial position is strained but we are actively working to improve this, with our new website live, and launching officially at the end of March and a fresh pamphlet and more marketing efforts in development, event calendar and even more community involvement.

Despite our limitations, we are committed to helping. We propose a matching donation initiative, where the Villiersdorp Tourism Association will match community contributions up to R5,000. This would exhaust our available funds for the year for donations to causes within the Villiersdorp community, but we strongly believe it’s a vital requirement.

To support this drive, we will:

• Send an email to our subscribers to assist
• Publish a donation page on our website
• Promote the campaign across our social media platforms
• Coordinate with VSBBV to reach their members and amplify the message through community WhatsApp groups

Behind the scenes, the Villiersdorp Tourism Association has been working together with the VSBBV to alleviate some of the major challenges the town faces, such as potholes and the overwhelming litter and waste we have to wade through every day. 

I strongly urge as many Villiersdorp Residents to join the VSBBV (Villiersdorp Business Chamber and Ratepayers Association) for only R100 a year so that even more can be done for the town – we all can play a role! 

DOWNLOAD the VSBBV application form latest 2026 to join for just R100 per year and be a part of change in your town.

Jon-Jon Keegan

Chair, Marketing & Web

Villiersdorp Tourism Association