Providing water to Hammanskraal a priority – mayor

Providing clean water for residents of Hammanskraal remains a top priority for the City of Tshwane, says mayor Nasiphi Moya.

“For decades, residents have endured unsafe water conditions, an unacceptable reality that we are determined to change,” she said during a briefing to mark her 100 days in office.

Moya said her administration had taken significant steps to address the crisis.

Steps to address Hammanskraal crisis

She said the council recently wrote off R600 million of water-related debt for Hammanskraal residents to relieve them of their financial burden.

“Progress is underway with the commissioning of the Magalies Water Package Plant, a crucial component of our efforts to supply clean water to the region,” she said.

The developments include the installation of valves and logging systems to isolate illegal connections and ensure efficient water flow management, systematic flushing and scouring of pipelines to improve water quality.

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Nearly 80% of affected areas have already been attended to and regular water quality is being tested to ensure compliance with SANS standards.

“We remain committed to providing updates and ensuring that this critical project stays on track to deliver tangible results for the people of Hammanskraal,” she said.

Hammanskraal farmer Theunis Vogel complained that because of Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment, they had lost their boreholes, income on crops and the value of the farms had dropped by more than 50%.

Farmer complains

He said it was not just the financial losses they were worried about, but the water also posed danger to their health.

Vogel said because of damaged boreholes, they could not expand their farming activities and their families and friends were reluctant to visit them for braai.

“The biggest concern is the dumping of raw sewage in the Apies River which ends up in the sea at Mozambique,” said Vogel.

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Water expert Ferrial Adam said they were not sure whether a problematic packaging plant was government-owned or owned by the private sector.

Adams said it wasn’t that they didn’t want the package plant, but they needed to understand what was going to happen to existing plants that needed to be fixed.

“They keep pushing the deadline out,” she said.

Keep pushing deadline out

Adams asked what would happen to the treatment plant that already existed and wanted to know if they were fixing the wastewater plant which was the problem.

“How does this fit into the demand and can it meet demand? Are they putting a plaster on a compound fracture?” she asked.

“Is Edwin Sodi going to be charged for taking money and not giving it back, are we getting the money back?” she asked.

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