Hammanskraal clean water promise pushed to 2025

Residents of Hammanskraal will not have clean drinking water by the end of the year as the first of the four modules of the package plant was delayed due to unforeseen hard rock ground conditions.

In a joined statement by the Department of Water and Sanitation, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya, and Magalies Water announced the delays in the project to bring clean water to Hammanskraal, adding they will continue to work together to address the water situation in the area.

The intervention follows the cholera outbreak in Tshwane in June 2023, which claimed 40 lives and put the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works in the spotlight and investigations of various departments and authorities.

Delays to Hammanskraal’s water plant

City of Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba said the first of the four modules of the package plant was delayed due to unforeseen hard rock ground conditions but was completed in October 2024.

“It will supply 12.5 megalitres of potable water into the City of Tshwane’s reticulation network in Hammanskraal. This will enable piped clean drinking water to be supplied to Mandela Village, Marokolong, Ramotse, Kekana Gardens (Steve Bikoville), and Babelegi Industrial, which are in wards 49, 73, 74, and 75,” he said.

Bokaba said the remaining modules were due to be completed in March 2025, April 2025, and June 2025, respectively.

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“Once the other modules have been completed, all areas of Hammanskraal will be supplied with piped water from the packaging plant.”

“In the meantime, the other areas of Hammanskraal will continue to receive clean drinking water through water tankers. This water, supplied through water tankers, is obtained from other Rand Water and Magalies Water pipelines, is regularly tested, and is safe to drink,” he said.

Despite many investigations in the past two years, the source of the contamination of cholera in Hammanskraal has still not been determined.

Source of cholera contamination still not determined

However, earlier this year in March, the Public Protector South Africa (PPSA) Kholeka Gcaleka said there was a slight improvement to the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Hammanskraal following the implementation of a remedial action plan issued after an investigation found the water was not suitable for human consumption.

The City of Tshwane, under the leadership of the former mayor, Cilliers Brink, also suspended five senior workers for the controversial Rooiwal tender award following the outcome of a year-long internal disciplinary process.

The uMkhonto WeSizwe (MK) party in Tshwane has responded to the statement by the city and said that Hammanskraal residents have been playing for too long.

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MK party said while it was worth noting that fire hydrants in Hammanskraal always had water, therefore, pictures of water coming from fire hydrants cannot be paraded as a win.

“What residents of Hammanskraal need is clean, running water from their own taps. After two missed deadlines for the so-called first phase of the Magalies water package plant, it is unfortunate that the ANC, EFF, and ActionSA in Tshwane are resorting to political gimmicks that can cost lives in Hammanskraal.”