During his recent visit to Kimberley, the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, announced the establishment of a Water Steering Committee that will resolve challenges facing Sol Plaatje Municipality.
DURING his recent visit to Kimberley, the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, announced the establishment of a Water Steering Committee that will resolve challenges facing Sol Plaatje Municipality.
This follows Mchunu’s engagements with Northern Cape Premier Dr Zamani Saul and Sol Plaatje Municipality in an effort to find a lasting solution to the challenges pertaining to bulk water supply and reticulation.
The newly established committee is set to address the issue of high levels of water losses and non-revenue water, estimated at 64%, due to the municipality’s old and ageing bulk and reticulation infrastructure.
The steering committee comprises a technical team from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and the municipality and is tasked with providing a turnaround strategy for the local authority’s water challenges.
The engagement with the minister offered the municipality a platform to address its water concerns, particularly regarding water treatment plants, reservoirs and household-allocated water.
The DWS identified poor operation and maintenance on both water and sanitation infrastructure following routine inspections and interactions with the municipality.
This has over the years contributed to sewage spillages, water leaks and water interruptions in the city.
Spillages of wastewater from the overflowing sewerage network and pump stations have been damning in the vicinity of Kamfers Dam and Platfontein for years.
Being responsible for wastewater management and the treatment of raw water and its reticulation, the municipality highlighted the challenges it is facing, including the financial challenge of addressing the problems identified.
Mchunu said they aim to “start with priority issues and deal with them incrementally towards improved delivery of water and sanitation.”
He explained the major concerns regarding operation and maintenance issues in the city and water losses in the form of direct leaks.
“We have quite a high percentage of non-revenue water, including direct losses of water … We don’t have a problem with the availability of water in the city. What we have is challenges in terms of what we do with the amount of water that we can abstract and are abstracting, that then goes through our system to the households. That’s what we are focussing on.
“What we do with water, we will do with sanitation. But what we want is improvement.
“The steering committee will be presided over by a political steering committee co-convened by the premier, myself and the mayor of Sol Plaatje. This is just to make sure that progress is indeed made in accordance with the timelines set.
“We are endorsing this steering committee and are confident that it will improve the services of water and sanitation in the city.”
With regards to the budget, Mchunu said that a certain amount of money is available at the municipality to fund the interventions.
The minister also announced that, together with the premier, they have undertaken to expedite the Vaal Gamagara Phase 2 project, which will be a joint venture between DWS and the Mine Leadership Forum in the Northern Cape.
The project will entail the laying of a 260-kilometre pipeline from the Vaal River Pump Station and will service the communities of John Taolo Gaotsewe District Municipality.
The eradication of the bucket system in the Northern Cape was also prioritised during the deliberations.
There are currently 7,600 buckets in the Province and Mchunu and Saul will sign a memorandum of understanding to eliminate the bucket system, particularly in the Campbell area under Siyancuma Local Municipality.
Mchunu said the time frames will be revealed to the public soon.
“For now, we can just say that this Province is our priority nationally, where we just want to eliminate all forms of buckets.”
