Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Mrs Edna Molewa was today in the Sedibeng District Municipality. The purpose for the Minister’s visit was three-fold. The first was to commission the biggest water infrastructure project in sub-Saharan Africa. Secondly, it was to launch the water and sanitation Strategic Infrastructure Project, i.e. SIP 18. Thirdly, it was to engage with the public in the region in order to understand its desires and needs, as well as to inform on what the impact of the work underway will be on the District.
The BG 3 pipeline is a project designed and managed by Rand Water. This pipeline, an obviously great piece of water infrastructure, is an essential in the drive to ensure security of water supply for the country and continent’s major economic hub.
The pipeline will augment the raw water capacity necessary for the Zuikerbosch Purification and Pumping Plant. The pipeline is essential in ensuring that as and when the levels in the Vaal Dam drop to below 85%, the BG 3 pipeline will raise the levels to remain at and above the necessary supply to ensure supply remains constant.
Another reason for the construction of this pipeline is to retain sufficient water levels during the necessary and timely maintenance and renovations that will need to be undertaken in the life of the BG 2, in essence duplicating the function of the BG 2 during such periods.
“The Sedibeng District Municipality and other areas are going to benefit from another project which we have come to commission here today. The Rand Water’s BG3 pipeline is definitely an absolutely significant project. It is also Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest water pipeline. It runs from the Vaal Dam to its Zoekfontein Plant, 8,6 km away. The pipeline will increase the water distribution in this district and the surrounding areas,” Minister Molewa said in her address.
During the launch of SIP 18 together with Minister Molewa’s colleagues, namely Minister Patel of Economic Development, Minister Nkwinti of Rural Development and Land Reform, as well as Deputy Minister Tsenoli of Rural Development and Land Reform, provincial and local government representative and government officials, it was obvious how well thought the issue of infrastructure development was. Infrastructure development is recognised not just as a catalyst for economic development, but rather that it straddled all sectors of society.
Infrastructure development will and must uplift not just the urban areas but be a large part of rural development as well. This will talk to the reduction of poverty levels through job creation, reduce the distances that rural people currently travel to access basic services, be they water, schools, roads, health facilities, etcetera. A concerted drive towards the attainment of equilibrium between the rural and urban communities cannot be achieved without development of essential infrastructure development, thus the creation of the Presidential Infrastructure Co-ordinating Commission and therefore the SIPs. Included in this is the critical element of co-operation between the public and private sectors.
As a country, we are to realise that the ideal of this particular Strategic Infrastructure Project 18 (SIP 18) is “to ensure a sustainable supply of water to meet social needs and support economic growth as well as a comprehensive sanitation service that enhances community wellbeing, reduced health care costs and improved productivity”
The Public Participation Programme is necessary for the government to interact with the public, thus gathering the necessary information around what is lacking as this beloved country of ours continues on its developmental trajectory. Government and public interaction can only serve to enhance the understanding not just of the government around what the public needs, but also creates an opportunity for government to report back on promises made, work underway, as well as receive the necessary buy-in from communities on its Programme of Action and ideals.
Government endeavours to lift the of service delivery to the populace whilst ensuring that such delivery is sustainable and long-term.
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