Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya apologised to Hammanskraal residents for delays in providing them with clean and drinkable water during her oversight visit to Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant and Klipdrift water package plant.
Image: Supplied? City of Tshwane
The City of Tshwane has now promised to roll out the second phase of providing clean drinking water to Hammanskraal residents by the end of June, following the missed April deadline.
Mayor Nasiphi Moya apologised to residents for the delay, attributing it to bad weather that impacted the construction of a modular water plant to supply Hammanskraal in four phases.
A water crisis in Hammanskraal made national headlines two years ago after contaminated water was supplied to residents, resulting in more than 20 deaths.
Moya apologised to residents for the delay in delivering clean water, initially promised for April, during her Friday visit to the Klipdrift plant and the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant refurbishment project alongside Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina.
The Rooiwal plant has been identified as the source of dirty water to the township owing to its lack of capacity to purify water.
Moya said that unforeseen weather conditions forced authorities to revise the timeline for water provision via the Klipdrift plant.
She added that the City will soon host an imbizo to highlight significant achievements aimed at restoring residents' dignity.
The areas set to receive water include Majaneng, Jubilee tower and Kudube units 1, 2, 3, 6, and 10, as well as Kudube Unit D.
Moya said: “I am pleased to say by the end of June which is next month these residents will have clean water. So, residents of Hammanskraal I know that they might feel that this project is not arriving soon enough but we can confirm that it is all hands on deck.”
She expressed satisfaction with the work being done by current contractors upgrading the Rooiwal plant, but emphasised the City's commitment to holding the Blackhead Consulting and NJR Projects joint venture, linked to Edwin Sodi, accountable for previous poor workmanship.
According to her, the City has resubmitted its application to the National Treasury to blacklist the companies and their directors.
Moya further reported that the city has spent R350 million of the R450 million allocated for the Rooiwal project.
She said: “We are ahead of schedule in terms of upgrading 1A of the Rooiwal, which in the main entails the issues of security and completing the work that was done by the previous contractor. It is a pleasure to announce that actually in addition to completing Phase 1A we have been able to start Phase 1B six months ahead of schedule.”
Phase 1B, she said, is slightly delayed due to bad weather and its progress is currently at 6% instead of the expected 10%.
“The other thing that is important is while we talk about the provision of clean water there are also environmental issues that we are dealing with here,” she said.
Moya noted that they can now measure the quality of effluent discharged from the plant, which is crucial not only for Hammanskraal residents but also for local farmers in Rooiwal.
The city is implementing a court order to provide clean water to local farmers, following a previous court ruling in their favour, Moya said.
“But what they must know is that the quality of effluent discharged from the plant is starting to improve,” she said.
rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za