R4.5bn project to quench Giyani thirst

Jubilation was the order of the day in Giyani, Limpopo, yesterday when a R4.5 billion bulk water project was unveiled.

The Mopani district municipality and residents confirmed nine of the 24 intended villages were getting clean running water daily from the project.

At the launch, the district confirmed the waste water treatment plant in Nandoni had been completed.

Clean water supply to villages

It is now able to supply clean water to intended villages.

The 40.5km pipeline from Nandoni Dam, which was delivered by the Varanani Properties, was also completed last year and is carrying water to the waste treatment plant.

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“This is a dream come true. Finally, a better life for all, which is an ANC slogan, has become the gospel truth,” ward 19 councillor in the Greater Giyani local municipality, Reckson Shilowa of Ndindani Village, said yesterday.

“We can now shout higher than the mountains saying to the people that today is a new dawn.

“We are able to access a better life for all, which we have been waiting for since 2014,” he said.

Great relief to relatives and communtity

Another villager, Petrous Ngobeni, who lives with two grannies in Ngove B, said having water in his community had brought great relief to his relatives and the community at large.

“We used to travel kilometres and kilometres to fetch water at fountains, rivers and at a communal tap. Now we have tap water in our yards and on the streets.

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“Life is now easy because we can plant vegetables in our backyards and feed our families through this project.

“Thanks to the Mopani district municipality for living up to its promises,” said Ngobeni happily.

Mopani district municipality, which is the water authority in the region said the reticulation project was going in phases.

“In the first phase, we targeted to reticulate 24 of the 55 earmarked villages.

“The remainder is planned to be dealt with in the second phase,” the district’s executive mayor, Pule Shayi, told The Citizen.

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