“Exemption from load shedding for water plant possible”

Exemption from the crippling effect of load shedding for the Parys water treatment plant is possible, says Vryheidsfront Plus board member, Phillip van der Merwe.

He raised the issue during a meeting of the Ngwathe Infrastructure Committee held in Heilbron last week.

The meeting was chaired by Ngwathe’s new seconded municipal manager, Mr. T. Ngesi.

Several ongoing and new infrastructure projects were on the agenda for consideration.

In response to a question from councilor Van der Merwe, the manager of the electricity department, Mr Henk Coetzer, explained that it will be necessary to have a dedicated power line to the water plant for release of load shedding.

He estimates that it will cost around R5 million. The current feeder line runs through an open field and parts of it are regularly stolen by cable thieves who, in the past, had shot at security officers in the area, it was said.

As a solution to the theft problem, it is intended to build an overhead power line that will be less vulnerable.

According to Coetzer, efforts are currently being made to urgently obtain external funding for the project.

The committee requested that priority be given to this project and some others, including securing the power grid to ensure the safety of workers.

The ongoing water problems in Koppies and Vredefort have also received attention, says Councillor Van der Merwe.

Koppies’ water purification plant was earlier upgraded at a cost of R25,6 million to allow for increased capacity for Koppies, and also to supply purified water via a pipeline to Edenville. Although the plant must therefore be able to meet Koppies’ needs, the problem is that supply lines must be replaced and supplementary reservoir capacity must be provided, Ngwathe’s technical director, Mr. Malunga said.

R12 million was budgeted for this in the current financial year, but the process was delayed because National Treasury placed a moratorium on the awarding of tenders due to the ‘illegality’ of certain provisions in legislation which modified the terms of the preferential procurement conditions.

Efforts must now be made to urgently make up for lost time. The Vredefort water purification plant was involved in previous financial years. A project worth R22.4 million was approved for upgrading the plant (without expanding their capacity), as well as for improving the extraction point at the Vaal River with pumps and a pumping station. The project was not successful and the contractor did not complete his work. In addition, the project consultant’s planning at the extraction point did not adequately provide for sludg, and inadequate pumps were recommended for the purpose.

There are also questions about the capacity of a generator that was purchased for the project. The project is currently being investigated by the special investigation unit (SIU). An amount of around R2.5 million is required to finalize the project and the committee recommends that funds be urgently obtained for it.

There was a further project of R7.6 million proposed as urgent to solve the remaining problems with the previous project and to slightly increase the capacity of the plant. Funds for this project will be requested in the 2023/24 financial year.

In order to be able to purify and supply sufficient water for Vredefort’s needs in the medium term, a further R27.5 million is required. However, this will only be addressed in 2024/25 or a later year.

“Ngwathe currently does not have any internal funds from which even smaller capital projects can be financed and is totally dependent on grants from state funds for this,” says council member Van der Merwe.