The Ministry and Department of Water and Sanitation, under the new administration, has committed to continue to ensure the implementation of all water projects without delay, and improved water and sanitation services.
Giving an update on the progress made in the water projects, which were previously delayed, Water and Sanitation spokesperson, Wisani Mavasa said in order to ensure water security, government is focusing on investing in additional national water resource infrastructure. This includes building awareness of the need to use water sparingly, and improving municipal water and sanitation services.
Mavasa acknowledged that in the past, water projects have been subjected to unacceptable delays.
However, good progress has since been made in recent years in unblocking and accelerating the delayed projects.
She highlighted that there are currently 14 major national water resource infrastructure projects valued at more than R100 billion, which are in different stages of implementation around the country.
Among the projects which have been unblocked, include the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase Two, uMkhomazi Water Project and the raising of the wall of the Hazelmere Dam in KwaZulu Natal, construction of Ntabelanga Dam on the uMzimvubu River in the Eastern Cape.
This also includes the raising of the Clanwilliam Dam wall in Western Cape, the Giyani Water Supply Project in Limpopo, and the Loskop Regional Bulk Water Supply Project in Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
“In addition to unblocking and accelerating these projects, Parliament recently passed the National Water Resource Infrastructure Agency Bill, which will result in the establishment of an agency with a balance sheet which will enable substantially more funds to be raised for investment in national water resource infrastructure,” Mavasa said.
Water supply disruptions
Mavasa noted an increase in water supply disruptions in Gauteng and in eThekwini, which has resulted in hardship for residents.
According to the department, the demand for water in both areas is largely due to population growth.
The growth in demand was anticipated by planners, and new national water resource infrastructure projects were planned to meet it, unfortunately, the start of the projects was delayed.
“The new Polihali Dam and associated infrastructure, which is part of Phase Two of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, was due to be completed in 2019 to enable additional water to be supplied to the Integrated Vaal River System, which in turn is the main source of water for Gauteng.
“This project was unblocked, and the main contracts were all awarded in October 2022 and construction is now fully underway and is due to be completed by 2028.
“Similarly, the start of the uMkhomazi project to supply additional water to eThekwini and surrounding municipalities was delayed by nine years, due to concerns about its affordability in terms of the tariffs that would have to be charged to the residents of eThekwini. The affordability problem was resolved in 2023 with the approval by National Treasury of an application by DWS, with the support of the Presidential Infrastructure Fund, for a blended finance solution for the funding of the project which made the tariff more affordable,” she explained.
Among the solutions reached included a 25% interest-free loan and a 25% grant from the national fiscus, and this enabled the eThekwini Municipal Council to approve the water supply agreement on 31 January 2024.
The department has now started to raise the finance for the project and to commence with implementation. Work on the design of the dam and tunnel for the uMkhomazi project has started.
The department also noted the delays in a project to raise the Hazelmere Dam wall to further increase water supply to eThekwini Municipality and surrounding areas in KwaZulu-Natal, which started in 2011. This was due to contractual disputes between the department and the main contractor.
“The contract with the main contractor was terminated in 2018, resulting in a halt to the project. This was resolved in 2021, and the project was completed in 2023.”
Ntabelanga and Clanwilliam Dam upgrades
The department further noted that the construction of Ntabelanga Dam on a tributary of the uMzimvubu River in the Eastern Cape, which was planned to provide additional water for domestic and irrigation use was delayed because the department was unable to successfully motivate for a budget to be allocated to the project.
“The department resolved this blockage in 2023, by reconfiguring the project to reduce its cost while still providing the same benefits. The reconfiguration involved adopting a brown fields approach to water services infrastructure rather than the previous green fields (upgrading existing bulk water supply infrastructure rather than build new infrastructure).
“The reconfiguration of the project resulted in a decrease in the cost of the project from R18 billion to R8 billion, and National Treasury then agreed to fund the reconfigured project from the fiscus. As a result, site preparations and the process to obtain the license to construct the dam are currently underway and construction of the dam wall will commence by October 2024.”
A project to raise the wall of the Clanwilliam Dam in the Western Cape, resulting in a tripling of the volume of water than can be stored in the dam, was also started in 2013, but the implementation of the project was delayed due to budget constraints and several changes in construction approach.
As a result, by 2023 the project was only 10% complete. The delays have since been addressed, and the project is now fully funded and major construction work is currently underway.
Loskop Regional Bulk Water Supply project
The major Loskop Regional Bulk Water Supply project to increase water supply to Thembisile Hani Local Municipality in Mpumalanga and the Moutse-East area under the Sekhukhune District Municipality in Limpopo, has since been unblocked with construction having begun in 2022.
The project was originally planned to commence in 2019 but was delayed because of funding constraints and poor planning by the department.
The construction of a new bulk pipeline from Loskop Dam in Mpumalanga to Thembisile Hani Local Municipality and associated infrastructure is also underway.
Giyani Water Supply project
The Giyani Water Supply Project, which has been delayed for many years, and been the subject of investigations by the Special Investigations Unit, has since been unblocked and accelerated over the last two years.
Mavasa highlighted that the main bulk pipeline from Nandoni Dam to Nsami Dam near Giyani was completed last year, and projects are currently underway to refurbish and increase the capacity of the Giyani Water Treatment Works and to install bulk reticulation lines, bulk reservoirs, service reservoirs and reticulation to households.
“Water has started to flow to households in nine of villages in Giyani and we will strive to ensure a further 15 villages receive water by the end of August this year, and that a further 31 villages receive water within the next two years.”
Water Services Amendment Bill
In addition to assisting municipalities to improve their water and sanitation infrastructure, the department has proposed amendments to the Water Services Act, to address the poor municipal performance illustrated by the results of the Blue, Green and no Drop reports which were issued in December 2023.
“The Water Services Amendment Bill will be submitted to Cabinet shortly for approval for it to be tabled in Parliament.”
Improvement in issuing of water use licence
Meanwhile, the department’s turnaround plan for the issuing of water use licences has seen an improvement in performance from 35% of applications being processed within 90 days to 70% being processed within 90 days.
“In addition, the backlog of more than a thousand applications has been largely eradicated, with no more than 100 applications which have taken longer than 90 days to process,” Mavasa said.
The department has committed that further improvement towards the President’s 2020 State of the Nation Address (SONA) target of processing all applications within 90 days, will be achieved during this financial year. – SAnews.gov.za
