Goldi in Standerton made headlines in a national daily last week after their CEO, Mr Chris Schutte, eloquently described their water supply crisis.
“I am flabbergasted that government structures are fixated with the concepts of a fourth industrial revolution, and now bullet trains and mega-cities, while they are unable to provide basic services to existing companies such as Astral, and many other established and successful businesses,” Mr Schutte said.
The Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Ms Lindiwe Sisulu, announced that her department will intervene and according to the daily, she directed Mr Squire Mahlangu, acting director-general of water and sanitation, and Mr Mbulelo Tshangana, director-general of human settlements, for a comprehensive report on the water challenges of the Lekwa Municipality.
The Minister also requested that the issue be discussed with the municipality and businesses in the area.
The Standerton Advertiser published a press release in its edition of 28 June about the situation and the following have transpired:
• Astral Foods Limited secured an emergency arrangement with the municipality in the midst of an ongoing water supply crisis.
• Their previous announcement on 28 May provided a general update on the deterioration of the municipal infrastructure, that led to water supply interruptions at Astral’s poultry processing plant, costing the company at least R85-mil up until the end of June.
• This Standerton processing facility requires 5.5 Mega Litres of water daily to process 2 000 000 broilers weekly.
• The under-supply of water escalated to the point where the municipality could not supply the 4.0 Mega Litres per day secured by means of a mutually agreed court order.
• Communication with Lekwa was limited.
• No water was supplied for a seven day period leading to a significant negative impact on the integrated agricultural supply chain.
• Production was reduced to 50% of the scheduled capacity, with a concurrent negative impact on workers employed at the plant, suppliers and the greater Lekwa community.
• Under the agreement with Lekwa, the municipality has undertaken to deliver a minimum of 2.0 Mega Litres of treated water daily to the Goldi processing plant via the municipal infrastructure.
•The municipality has appointed Astral as an emergency service provider, and agreed to cede 3.5 Mega Litres per day of their raw water allocation from the Vaal River system to Astral for a period of 24 months.
• Astral installed infrastructure on one of its poultry farms alongside the Vaal River in the vicinity of Standerton, enabling the company to extract raw water.
This water is pumped from the river and then transported by road to a filtration plant that has been established at the company’s premises in Standerton, alongside the processing plant.
• Mr Andy Crocker, Managing Director of Astral’s Commercial Division, stated that this arrangement means that they should have access to sufficient water to run their processing operations at the scheduled capacity in the short term, albeit at a significantly higher cost, pending a more permanent solution to this crisis.
• This will allow the staff at the abattoir to return to normal working hours and shift patterns as soon as possible.
• In accordance with a High Court order previously secured by Astral, the municipality is obliged to submit a longer term plan indicating how and when it intends repairing and improving the municipal water supply infrastructure.
• Astral has recently replaced the essential backwash pump at the water treatment works within 24 hours of this pump failing.
• Astral has also pledged support in the form of equipment, expertise and labour to the value of R10-mil.
“We need to be able to consistently produce locally in a conducive and reliable municipal environment,” Mr Schutte also said.
“Astral is left to fend for itself with little more than a ‘bucket system’ supply of water.
“The legal route seems to be the only avenue to determine which tier of government; local, provincial or national is ultimately accountable for the upkeep of municipal infrastructure.”
The newspaper contacted Goldi in Standerton on Monday, 1 July for an update as well as sent two e-mails to Minister Sisulu’s department on Friday, 28 June.
A reply from her personal assistant, Ms Nonkonzo Nkosi, was promptly received, with a note that the enquiry was referred to the relevant officials.
Goldi in Standerton undertook to give comment as soon as possible on any developments.
Ms Sisulu has by all accounts prioritised the infrastructure of water and sanitation.
Also read:
https://standertonadvertiser.co.za/93831/astral-secures-emergency-agreement-lekwa-municipality/
