Endumeni’s water woes are set to continue after the failure of a construction company to complete an urgent upgrade to the Biggarsberg water works, following a rise in price for the pumps and electrical equipment to be installed.
The R36-million project was implemented by Umzinyathi District Municipality because the Endumeni area suffers constant ‘water-shedding’ despite the good rains. The water treatment plant – that is said to be long overdue for an upgrade – cannot cope with the increased demand for water.
According to reports, there is only one generator serving the Tayside raw water extraction pump on the Buffalo River and ‘should this fail, the entire area will be without water’. However, the district municipality denied that only one generator is working and said the delays in finishing the water project were ‘due to unforeseen circumstances and we are working on it’.
A source told the Courier that a construction company had been removed from the job to execute the upgrade of the pump station.
“Unfortunately, the price of the pumps and electrical equipment escalated such that other items in the project could not be completed as per the original business plan. The pumps were procured and paid for, and awaiting installation.
“One pump was installed and two pumps are already in South Africa with the manufacturer. Additional funds are required to complete the outstanding work and the revised business plan is being discussed with the Department of Water & Sanitation.” The Glencoe reservoir and Biggarsberg plant have also been hit numerous times by cable thieves who target the electrical equipment, which affects the ability to pump water. This has resulted in especially Glencoe suffering numerous water outages in recent months.
The district municipality has not yet responded to claims that ‘three luxury cars had been bought for official use at a cost of well over R1 million’.
This comes after Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke, in her report on local government for 2021/22, reported that Umzinyathi District Municipality was one of three municipalities in the country that had regressed from a qualified audit opinion to an adverse audit opinion.
Maluleke says in her report that if a municipality receives an adverse audit opinion, this means that it submitted financial statements that are so unreliable that they cannot be used for oversight and decision-making.
“Of the municipalities that received adverse audit opinions, only Umzinyathi District Municipality is under provincial intervention. Despite this intervention having begun in October 2016, it has had little impact,” Maluleke says in her report. Once a response has been received from the district municipality, this will be published.
