Programme Director,
Acting Premier of KZN, MEC Nomsa Dube
MECs present here
District and Local Mayors in our midst
Traditional leaders from the communities benefitting from today’s event
Members of our religious community represented here
Officials from all three spheres of government
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen
Let me begin by thanking you all for being part of this historic occasion to mark yet another step towards the eradication of water backlog in this province and the reduction of poverty among our people. It is indeed a great moment for us to be present here to help our people realise their dream and our ideal of a better life as promised by the ANC government since coming to power nineteen years ago.
I have no doubt that many of you will not be surprised at what is happening here today. Since the dawn of democracy in our country, we have managed to replace the abhorrent apartheid conditions that our people have been living under with conditions that restored their dignity in a big way. In the process, we have managed to improve the basic economic and political conditions of the majority of our country’s population, and we believe we are on the right track to creating a better life for all.
The ANC’s democratic government has embarked on a comprehensive infrastructure rollout programme that embodies rapid water supply to all areas with critical water shortages.
Therefore, we are here today to respond to the directive given by our president, Jacob Zuma, to fast-track water provision to areas that we have not yet reached since the ANC government came into power. We are also here to ensure that we create sustainable supply of water to our communities for the present and future generations.
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UThungulu District Municipality, like other district municipalities in the province and indeed throughout the country has benefitted from our water projects and will continue to do so until everyone here has access to clean, potable water.
When this District Municipality was created, it had 81% and 89% of the water and sanitation backlogs, respectively.
But through our dedicated collective effort of the national, provincial and local governments, the backlogs stood at 41% for basic water and 55% for sanitation by last year. We estimate that we will require about R3.81 billion to eradicate these remaining backlogs.
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The Greater Mthonjaneni Water Project is, therefore, one of the projects we will embark upon to eradicate these backlogs.
The project will supply parts of uMfolozi, Mthonjaneni and Ntambanana Local Municipalities when it is completed. We have identified a very reliable source of water for this project, which is Lake Phobane, which will help us deliver about 40 Mℓ/ of water per day when fully operational.
This water will be transported to the Goedetrouw Dam from which it will be distributed to the Greater Mthonjaneni, Kwahlokohloko and the Eshowe supply areas of the district.
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When the entire scheme is completed, it will provide water services to over 281,864 people within the service area and reduce the water backlog in the Diatrict Municipality by 30%.
The scheme will also ensure the delivery of sustainable basic water services, the enhancement of economic development towards achieving the national services target by 2014, the objectives of water for growth and development, employment and redistribution.
- Close to 700 households are the beneficiaries of Phase 1 of the project with the estimated 4 478 households expected to benefit from the scheme when both Phase 1 and 2 are completed, all of whom are residing in deep rural areas.
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Job creation has also been a strong focus of this project, with 846 jobs created during Phase 1, which is now operational, following five years of hard work.
This Phase consists of the 20 Ml / day Water Treatment Plant with 40Ml / day inletworks, 10.1 km of 450 Ductile iron pipeline, including all fittings and ancillaries, 3 Booster pump stations with appurtenant electrical connections, a 2.5 Ml Concrete reservoir at Zimele, two 250 kl Concrete balancing tanks, and one 100 kl Concrete reservoir, all pipe works associated with structures, earthworks and civil services per pump station / reservoir site.
- In the remaining Phases, we are going to convert the existing pipeline of Kwahlokohloko and Eshowe, upgrade the booster pumps, and refurbish raw water reservoirs and all related connections. We will construction various other pipelines and 15 reservoirs, and do reticulation for the Greater Mthonjaneni.
- The Department of Water Affairs has already invested R149,408,891 in Phase 1 and more than R has been set aside for the entire project.
The department has developed an Interim Intermediate Water Supply Strategy in order to ensure everyone has access to water as soon as possible. This strategy has informed the new Municipal Water Infrastructure Grant (MWIG).
A total of R267 million has been allocated to KZN in the 2013 / 2014 financial year with R284 million allocated to the UDM over the MTEF, but has been allocated R57 million in the 2013 /14 financial year.
