The Minister of Water and Sanitation, Ms Pemmy Majodina says the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is committed to work with all spheres of government in the Free State to improve water and sanitation service delivery in the Matjhabeng Local Municipality.
Minister Majodina together with Deputy Ministers David Mahlobo and Sello Seitlholo, joined by the Deputy Minister in the Presidency responsible for Monitoring and Evaluation, Seiso Mohai and Free State MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, and Human Settlements, Saki Mokoena as well as executive mayors of Lejweleputswa District and Matjhabeng Local Municipality Cllrs Veronica Ntakumbana and Thanduxolo Khalipha respectively, handed over 22 refurbished wastewater infrastructure including the Thabong Waste Water Treatment Works and 22 pumps stations located around Welkom and Ondendaalsrus, to Matjhabeng Local Municipality, to mark the international World Water Day on Sunday, 22 March 2026.
The refurbishment of water and sanitation infrastructure projects followed a ministerial intervention activated by the Department, to address collapsed waste water systems that has caused major sewer spillages in the municipality, affecting the environment and polluting water resources.
Matjhabeng Municipality faced a severe sanitation infrastructure challenges due to prolonged poor maintenance and vandalism of sanitation infrastructure which resulted in 9 out of its 11 WWTWs, 42 pump stations as well as over 400 kilometres of bulk sewer networks blocked overtime leaving sections of the municipality in the major towns such as Welkom, Virginia, Allanridge, Ventersburg, Odendaalsrus and Hennenman covered in raw effluent and widespread sewerage overflows.
In 2022, the Ministry of Water and Sanitation issued a directive to assist the municipality to address the challenges and allocated R4.2 billion through its Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) over five years. The Department appointed its entity, the Vaal Central Water to undertake a programme to refurbish and upgrade the current sanitation infrastructure of the Matjhabeng Municipality, and so far, R1.2 billion has been spent on the project with an overall progress of 46%. The intervention is being implemented concurrently with the municipal rehabilitation project of the internal sewer reticulation done by the municipality.
“Today we mark World Water Day by handing over the completed sanitation projects...This demonstrates a major step in restoring and strengthening the municipality’s wastewater infrastructure and restoring dignity to the people of Matjhabeng particularly women and girls.
“This is a deeply significant occasion because it takes place in the month of March, a month that carries special meaning in the life of democracy and our nation as the Human Rights Month, but also as the National Water Month. Today’s handover is not a demonstration of pieces of engineering, but a reaffirmation of and restoration of dignity, responsibility over environment and protection of our water resources,” said Minister Majodina.
Minister Majodina urged the communities to take ownership and protect the infrastructure as it is meant to bring in services and improve their quality of life: “to the people of Matjhabeng, these assets belong to you, the waste water treatment works, the pumps stations, network improvements are all for public benefit. Let us protect them, let us reject vandalism, let us reject cable theft and all illegal dumping into sewer systems. Let us report sabotage and criminality. Let us protect our infrastructure and build a culture of care and ownership. This is a collective responsibility and social compact between us as government and all spheres of our society to ensure that public services indeed serve us.”
Deputy Minister Mohai also reiterated the call for the community to protect the newly refurbished infrastructure. He said his Department will activate the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JPCS) Cluster to ensure that they bring measures to ensure that state infrastructure is protected and safeguarded.
“We have already asked the National Planning Commission to take this important task of ensuring that the work of government is protected and our communities become centres where services are delivered. We cannot, as government, invest in infrastructure projects that cost billions but are mismanaged and manipulated by the syndicates that vandalise it. We applaud the Department of Water and Sanitation that supported the refurbishment of this infrastructure that will benefit the community of Matjhabeng, however, it the infrastructure needs to be protected,” he said.
MEC Mokoena also acknowledged that the Ministerial intervention in making a huge impact on sanitation services in the municipality.
“We are quite happy the wastewater treatment plant has been brought back to life, and it will do its job of providing efficient treatment of raw sewage. As we are building new settlements, we need these refurbished wastewater facilities that will ensure that no longer see sewer continuously flowing in streets or in people’s houses. We will continue to work with the municipality to ensure that the infrastructure is fully operated with electricity. Sewer spillage has been a stubborn problem in Matjhabeng but with the intervention of the Department of Water and Sanitation and the coordination of all spheres of government, we are seeing improvements in the management of wastewater in the municipality,” said MEC Mokoena.
The Executive Mayor of Matjhabeng Local Municipality, Cllr Khalipha commended the intervention and said it brought back the dignity to the people of Matjhabeng.
“We would like to thank the Minister of Water and Sanitation and the Free State Provincial Government for assisting the municipality in resuscitating the wastewater infrastructure. We have not only seen a commitment from both the national and provincial governments, but we have seen a huge investment to ensure that this rehabilitative work of the infrastructure is carried out, and already, we can see the improvement in solving the problem of sewer spillages in our communities. This intervention will assist in proving investor confidence to our municipality.
The Mayor also joined the Minister and Deputy Minister in calling for the community to protect the infrastructure from vandals. “We therefore call on the community to protect this infrastructure as it will bring a change to our daily lives. We also appeal to the community to pay for the water and sanitation services to enable us, as the municipality, to honour our accounts with Vaal Central Water and Eskom. We are committed to do everything to offer basic services to the people of Matjhabeng Municipality”, Cllr Khalipha emphasised.
The Minister’s handover of the completed sanitation infrastructure projects demonstrates government’s commitment to protect water resources and provide dignified sanitation to all households in South Africa, and to emphasise that access to safe drinking water and sanitation is a fundamental human right and a critical enabler of gender equality in line with the year’s World Water Day theme: ‘Water and Gender’ with the slogan ‘Where Water Flows, Equality Grows’.
For more information, contact:
Ms Wisane Mavasa, Spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation
Cell: 060 561 8935
E-mail: mavasaw@dws.gov.za
For Vaal Central Water: Ms Lindiwe Mnguni
Cell: 067 419 9629
E-mail: lindiwem@vcwater.co.za
Matjhabeng Local Municipality: Tshediso Tlali
Cell: 072 133 4424.
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