Minister Nomvula Mokonyane: Lushushwana Bulk Water Supply sod-turning

Speaker notes: Address by Nomvula Mokonyane, Minister of Water and Sanitation at the sod-turning event in Lushushwana Bulk Water Supply at the Gert Sibanda District Municipality,  Mpumalanga

Introduction

  • Just yesterday we attended the 3rd Presidential Summit on Local Government whose main focus was on the ongoing strengthening of local government through the deepening of the Back to Basics (B2B) program, and through developing strategies and tactics to advance the objectives of developmental local government, as articulated in the National Development Plan (NDP).
  • The National Development Plan (NDP) has called for a fundamental reshaping of our colonial and apartheid geography. It states that by 2030, the state should have made meaningful progress in reviving rural areas, and in creating more functionally integrated, balanced and vibrant urban settlements.
  • In so doing, South Africa can begin to reverse the legacies of the spatial injustices of the past, as well as to halt the perpetuation of urban sprawl and poorly integrated development.
  • The water sector is critical for government’s transformation and development objectives. Providing safe and accessible water supply and sanitation services profoundly affects poor people’s daily lives.
  • Water is life and has a catalytic cross-cutting impact on socio-economic development as well as peace and stability. Sanitation is dignity. Thus, water is enshrined as a basic human right in our Constitution.
  • Today, we are here in the Gert Sibande District Municipality for an important event in the lives of the communities in and around the area on the occasion of the SOD turning of the Lushushwane Bulk Water Supply project.
  • The project itself exemplifies the cooperation of various spheres of government within the ambit of the Inter-governmental relation framework (IGR). This framework needs to be support and strengthened because it has not been in all instances successful.
  • The implementation of Lushushwane Bulk Water Supply (BWS) is a project funded under the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) of the Department of Water and Sanitation.

 

The importance of the project:

  • The objective of this project is to upgrade and refurbish the Bulk Water Supply Infrastructure to Lushushwane situated in the jurisdiction area of the Chief Albert Luthuli Local Municipality which is currently serviced by boreholes.
  • The Community of Lushushwane that will benefit from this project includes Robinsdale, Bettysgoed, Smithfield, Aankomst, Pampoen, Lochiel, Hartbeeskop, Houtbosch, and Oshoek.
  • A total of 3,723 households (16,285 people) will be served and the  design horizon caters for 5,014 households (21,934 people) respectively.
  • The implementation of the project will put bulk water supply infrastructure in place which will allow for 5,014 households to be provided with water services at RDP service level of water supply.
  • The upgrade and refurbishment of the existing bulk water supply system for the area and extension of the Lushushwane Bulk Water Supply Scheme will serve the towns and villages, as mentioned above, located along the N17 to Oshoek close to the Swaziland border in Mpumalanga Province and falls under the Gert Sibande District Municipality and Chief Albert Luthuli Local Municipality.
  • Gert Sibande District Municipality on behalf of the Department is implementing the upgrade and refurbishment project of the Lushushwane Bulk Water Supply Scheme over three phases.
  • Lushushwane BWS was approved by the Department at a total cost of R90 159 000 for all three phases all inclusive (Construction and Engineering fees).

 

Closing remarks:

  • I need to reiterate that government implement infrastructure on behalf of and for the benefit of communities and it is equally incumbent upon the communities, themselves, to safe-guard and protect same from vandalism and any form of criminality;
  • The Municipality also has an obligation to ensure that the infrastructure does not reach a state of disrepair due to lack of proper budgeting and funding of the Operations and Maintenance programs;
  • As part of the Back to Basics (B2B) the Municipality must ensure that it builds the requisite technical capacity to deal with the challenges within the water value chain;
  • Most importantly, is the coordination of infrastructure investments in targeted spaces across spheres, sectors and with stakeholders;
  • Government across the various spheres should strive to overcome persistent backlogs and inequities in service delivery through improved intergovernmental planning and budgeting processes;
  • In this regard, there are glaring and serious weaknesses in the development of Integrated Development Programs (IDP’s), for an example, and serious attention need to be given to such.

Dankie

Ngiyabonga

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