Festive season water shortages addressed
Minister Nomvula Mokonyane is ensuring relief to many families who experienced water shortages during the days around Christmas Day. Water supply disruptions in a number of areas within the Eastern Cape Province have negatively impacted on the Christmas celebrations in many households, notably in areas such as Mdantsane in Buffalo City, Tsolo in Mhlontlo Municipality, Norwood in Mthatha and villages such as Colosa, Timane, and eCamagwini in Idutywa.
“The release of water from the Katse Dam in Lesotho to augment water supply to the Maletswai Local Municipality that supplies Aliwal North and surrounding areas is underway. The water must travel a distance of a little more than 500kms downstream and is expected to reach various destinations in the province in the next few days.
“We are here today to deliver water tankers to augment the supply of water to communities currently experiencing water challenges. We have brought 10 water tankers, 8 x 18 000l tankers and 2 x 10 000l tankers. These will be distributed for the benefit of the communities of Alfred Nzo, Amathole, Chris Hani and OR Tambo Districts”, announced Mokonyane yesterday.
Minister Mokonyane also committed to assist with the refurbishment of 5 boreholes per district in the province. “With this intervention we will ensure that we deploy highly competent engineers to oversee the process and to assess boreholes to be rehabilitated as well as verify their viability and water potential”, noted the Minister.
Water losses are a major problem and some of the water disruptions mentioned earlier are a direct result of poor maintenance and aged infrastructure. Some disruptions are however the result of mechanical failures that may be dependent on numerous mechanical variables in the operations and maintenance of water supply systems.
The Department of Water and Sanitation has allocated over R200 million to the province through the Municipal Water Infrastructure Grant (MWIG) as an investment into the water infrastructure of the province. Currently, 20% of these funds are spent and as part of the intervention, the department will support the province to intensify delivery and ensure spending in order to guarantee the delivery of projects on time.
Minister Mokonyane commented that “in the Eastern Cape we know that not all communities are serviced with water and sanitation as expected. Currently, 79% of the provincial population has access to water. The 21% still to be serviced are located mainly in the eastern parts of the province, namely the Alfred Nzo, Amathole, Chris Hani, Joe Gqabi and OR Tambo districts. Some of our critical challenges relate to reticulation and the bulk distribution of water to communities and outlying areas as well as villages in the rural parts of the province.
“Working with the provincial government and municipalities, we will work to assist the province in developing a concise water and sanitation master plan that will look into infrastructure plans and the budgets that are needed to intensify the delivery of water and sanitation services, as well as infrastructure in the province. This will include an assessment of funds already allocated to the various municipalities and how efficiently such funds are being used.”
