‘Shoddy work’ at R85m Limpopo pump station leaves taps dry

Alleged shoddy work by the Magalies Water Board during the construction of a multimillion-rand mega water pump station has left residents of Mookgophong, Bela-Bela and Modimolle in Limpopo without water for weeks. Dubbed the Sondela pump station, it was contracted by a service provider appointed by the Magalies Water Board for R85 million.

But weeks after it was handed over, pipes in the station started to leak, leading to the plant being closed down.

Investigations by The Citizen revealed that before the project, the old pump station pumped a maximum flow of 10 megalitres and was now supposed to pump 16 megalitres of water per day. It was also revealed that the initial Klipdrift water treatment plant commissioned in 1995 was supplying water to three municipalities via a 100km pipeline.

Modimolle and Mookgophong local municipality mayor Marlene van Staden said the water board has been struggling with the plant since 2016.

“This has upset residents who thought we are denying them the right to water,” said Van Staden.

Yesterday the Democratic Alliance (DA), which runs the municipality, shared its frustrations over the work done by the board.

“Our residents will have to endure the pain of not having water due to shoddy work,” said DA provincial chairperson Jacques Smalle.

“We have since escalated the matter to the department of water affairs, forestry and fisheries to urgently install alternative pumps while the service provider is fixing the faulty pumps.”

In the interim, one pump is being used from the Klipdrift water treatment plant which will reduce water supply from six megalitres to only two megalitres per day.

But little did the DA know that the water problem faced by the municipality would still drag on for many days to come. This is so because the statement by the Magalies Water Board yesterday suggested otherwise.

“Yes it is true that the pipes at the plant are leaking. We can also confirm that we have closed down the station for now,” said Magalies Water Board chief operating officer Mahlomola Mehlo.

“We have since taken the pipes back to the manufacturer to check what could be the problem. The manufacturer had promised to give us a feedback before the end of the week.”

– alexm@citizen.co.za

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