Several stakeholders launched the Greater Breyten Water Supply Scheme Project under the theme ‘Valuing Water’ for National Water Week, on 16 March.
Mr Sputnik Ratau, spokesman of the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), said the theme is important, especially in a dry and water-scarce country such as South Africa.
“It reminds each person of the value of water in our lives and everything that we do,” Mr Ratau also said.
Mr David Mahlobo, deputy minister of the Department of Water and Sanitation, Mr Muzi Chirwa, executive mayor of Gert Sibande District Municipality and Ms Agnes Mnisi, acting executive mayor of Msukaligwa Municipality, launched the project in Warburton.
The estimated completion date is 13 May 2024 and will oversee Breyten, Chrissiesmeer, Lothair and Warburton.
The plans include:
• The refurbishment of the Torbanite Dam pump station.
• Installation of a new raw water rising main from Torbanite Dam to Breyten Water Treatment Works (WTW).
• Refurbishment of the Breyten WTW.
• Installation of a new rising main from Breyten WTW to Breyten WTW reservoirs.
• Replacement of secondary bulk mains supplying Breyten Town.
• Installation of a new rising main from Breyten WTW to Chrissiesmeer bulk reservoirs.
• Construction of a new pump station at Chrissiesmeer’s reservoir site to provide bulk water supply to Warburton.
• Installation of a new secondary bulk main from new Warburton reservoir to Warburton reticulation.
• Installation of new gravity main from Chrissiesmeer’s bulk reservoirs to Lothair’s reservoirs.
• Installation of reservoirs in Lothair and the installation of new rising main from the in-line booster pump station to the elevated tanks in Lothair.
In the meantime some residents of Thabo Village claim to have been without water for nine months.
The situation is just as dire in Breyten and other surrounding communities.
Residents have reported this to the Msukaligwa Municipality and their respective ward councillors several times, but in vain.
“Water and sanitation are of paramount importance to every community as prescribed in the constitution, it is a basic human right,” Mr Kenneth Malatji, a resident of Breyten, said.
He said residents should question their leaders.
“We know that the infrastructure is old, but the fact that the municipality waited until it failed, means that we have a negligent government,” he said.
According to Ms Hannetjie Oberholzer, another resident, financial constraints rendered the municipality incapable to repair the broken water pump causing the outage, which is just one of the problems.
Read more on this in the Highvelder Newspaper.
