Submitted by Jabulani Mkhonza (Communications Manager – uThukela District Municipality)
In the spirit of the call to serve the community selflessly, uThukela District Mayor Siphiwe Mazibuko hit the road running to visit the water and sanitation projects in Weenen under Inkosi Langalibalele Municipality on Friday (October 9). He was accompanied by Water, Sanitation & Technical Services chairperson S Dlungwane, Speaker Phindile Strydom and other officials.
The first stop was at the water reticulation project construction site, which is aimed at supplying water in Ward 20. The project started in June this year and is expected to be completed by end of June next year.
It is undertaken by Sinethemba Construction.
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According to the briefing by service providers and technical staff, the project is overcoming technical, labour and social issues as it progresses, and both the contractor and engineers are trying hard to manage the situation. About 400 households stand to benefit from the project, once completed.
The engineers informed the mayor that they have a strong technical team in order to run the project successfully.
The project is currently 32% complete.
“We are quite happy with the progress made so far. Councillors should be on board in order for the project to run smoothly. If you try to stop the project, it simply means you are affecting its completion time. But overall, we are happy with the progress,” said Mayor Mazibuko.
The team then went to visit the sanitation project in Ezitendeni. The service provider explained that they cannot commission the sewer pump station until the water plant is commissioned.
There are also technical issues pertaining to the sanitation pump station.
Mayor Mazibuko was concerned about security issues, especially during a time when vandalism of infrastructure is on the rise. The last stop was at the waste water treatment construction site. The contractor is progressing well, in spite of the social challenges faced. Maxode Construction is currently undertaking the project. Backlogs are being experienced in terms of getting construction material.
No technical issue was reported and they have a good working relationship with the consultants.
The team was taken on a walkabout around the plant, which is expected to take up to 18 months to complete. During the debriefing session, Cllr Dlungwane said that the purpose of these projects was to give service to the people, build infrastructure and empower the people.
Speaker Strydom was impressed with the structures she saw and said they were of quality workmanship. “I think we need to have a community meeting to iron out some of the issues raised. Our service providers should therefore stick to the time frame to complete the project,” said the speaker. Mayor Mazibuko also said it was important for them as political leadership to honour and keep their promises.
He was, however, worried about the previous contractor, who failed to deliver.
“More delays experienced means lack of service delivery. This area has benefited a lot in terms of projects implemented by the district municipality. All stakeholders need to engage each other in order to see the success of these projects. Skills development and skills transfer are very critical. We must also be mindful of the issue of sabotaging of our programmes,” the mayor concluded.
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