Sekhukhune residents sceptical about deadline for R1.1bn water project

The 1.2 million people of the drought-stricken Sekhukhune region in Limpopo will have to wait for another three years to have clean running water, if the R1.1 billion bulk water pipeline project launched by Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu this week is anything to go by.

On Tuesday, Mchunu was flanked by his two deputies, Dikeledi Magadzi and David Mahlobo, at Loskop Dam, where the long anticipated project was launched.

The project, according to Mchunu, is aimed at addressing water supply challenges in the Thembisile Hani and Elias Motsoaledi local municipalities in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, respectively. Although it’s still at procurement stage, it was envisaged to be implemented over a three-year period from May 2022 to April 2025.

The department said the essence of the engagements yesterday was to outline the plan in respect of Loskop project.

“The project scope comprises a number of work packages, from one to 15. It will be commissioned when work packages one and 13 are done – that’s currently at 92% – to be completed in October 2022,” said Mchunu’s spokesperson, Mantombi Mogotsi.

She said the work packages one and 13 consist of extensions to Groblersdal water treatment works and its mechanical and electrical components.

Sekhukhune mayor Julia Mathebe said she was confident Mchunu’s visit would signal a new dawn for water provision in the area and that when completed, tomorrow would not be the same as yesterday. Mathebe has launched the socalled Bofa Tekkie Renwe Metsi – which in Sepedi means “tie up your sneakers and let the people drink water”.

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The project has been going well and according to Mathebe, it will yield much needed results when the Loskop Dam project is completed.

This year, the department of water and sanitation was allocated a combined budget of R111.256 billion over the medium-term expenditure framework. This consists of allocations of R34.9 billion, R37.3 billion and R38.9 billion in the 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 financial years, respectively.

The budget, according to Mchunu, consists of two components – the main account and the water trading entity (WTE). The main account budget includes conditional infrastructure grants for municipal water services totalling R37.4 billion over the medium-term expenditure framework. This includes R19 billion for the regional bulk infrastructure grant and R14 billion for the water services infrastructure grant.

The WTE largely relies on revenues from the sale of water, While Mchunu promised the residents of Sekhukhune the project would take just three years to complete, people said they hoped it would not stall and become costly like the notorious Giyani bulk water project, which remained incomplete five years after the deadline and R2. 8 billion more than it was actually budgeted for.

“There is nothing new about this project. From the former Mpumalanga premier Ndaweni Mahlangu, ministers Buyelwa Sonjica and Lindiwe Sisulu, promises were made, budgets were released but still there is no drop of water in the drought-stricken areas of the region such as Ntoane, Dennilton, Lieufontein, Taffelkop and Burgersfort,” Seun Mokgotji of the Bolsheviks political party said yesterday.

A Giyani resident, Buthani Maluleke, said: “From drinking dirty water from the Giyani River, which was infested with opportunistic water-borne diseases such as algae, which gave rise to typhoid and cholera, the long wait for clean running water is still a pipe dream for the people of Giyani in 55 villages.

“We are tired of empty promises by government – and we need action.”

– news@citizen.co.za