Watering Limpopo’s future: Dam wall project enters final phase

The last phase of the multimillion-rand raising of the Tzaneen Dam wall project in Limpopo has begun, again, with over 200 jobs on the cards for local unemployed youth, women and people living with disabilities.

The department of environmental affairs approved the project in 2011 and, according to the Mopani district municipality, which is jointly implementing the project with the department of water and sanitation, the project could not begin and be completed in time due to serious financial constraints.

Municipality spokesperson Odas Ngobeni said yesterday: “This is one of our projects which progressed at a snail’s pace due to a shortage of budget. The situation was exacerbated by Covid, which affected funding for this project, hence the delay in completing it.

“We, however, hope it will soon be put to bed in the next few years since we’re beginning to pick up from the eroded economy caused by Covid.”

The project has been constructed in stages, namely the stockpiling, demolition and raising of the dam wall. The continuation of the project was first announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address early this year.

The first phase of the project was completed in March 2017, while the second phase was put to bed in February 2018.

The licence to enable the construction work to extend the dam wall with safety risk measures was issued early this year, with the scope of the work including the demolition of the top of the existing spillway, the construction of a labyrinth spillway and other minor works.

The Development Bank of Southern Africa was appointed as the implementing agent. The construction of the wall started in March and is expected to be completed in March 2025.

The department of water and sanitation said recently: “Upon completion, Tzaneen Dam, on the R71 road adjacent the Sapekoe Tea plantations between Tzaneen and Boyne, will be a 53.3m high category III dam. A category III dam is classified as the highest hazard rating by the dam safety office, considering the size and potential loss of life in the unlikely event of a catastrophic failure of the dam.”

The project, the department said, was aimed at augmenting the water supply in the Greater Letaba River Catchment of Limpopo by raising the dam wall by three metres to increase the yield of the dam to address water shortages.

“This will result in an increase in the gross storage capacity of the dam. The primary aim of this is to largely benefit the agricultural sector as it will make water available for the establishment of resource-poor farmers in the irrigated agriculture sector around the area,” said the department.

Speaking during his State of the District Address in Giyani on Wednesday, mayor of the municipality Pule Shayi, who doubles up as ANC Norman Mashabane regional chair in Limpopo, said the project was budgeted at just over half a billion rands.

He said the project was planned to create much-needed jobs for unemployed locals and small, medium and micro enterprises in Tzaneen and surrounding towns.