Pretoria - Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane has handed over ten 18 000 litre water trucks to the Eastern Cape province.
“We are here to deliver these 18 000 litre trucks; at the same time we will refurbish 25 boreholes. There will be a Municipal Water Infrastructure Grant for the Eastern Cape to be reprioritised by each municipality, subject to Department of Water and Sanitation approval,” said the Minister during a visit to Mbashe on Tuesday.
Mbashe is one of the areas affected by the drought in the province.
“At the same time there will be supply of water from the Katse Dam in Lesotho to Aliwal North, the development of the Eastern Cape Water Master Plan, a new scheme for the Amathole District Municipality within the next six – eight months [and] we will continue to raise awareness on water saving.
“There will be a provincial water and sanitation functional coordinating committee convened by the provincial COGTA (Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs),” she said.
This comes as the Minister paid a two-day working visit to the Eastern Cape which started on Monday. She also held engagements with the Provincial Executive Council led by the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Fikile Xasa.
There have been water supply disruptions in a number of areas within the province that caused a great inconvenience to consumers and negatively impacted on the Christmas celebrations in many households.
There have also been disruptions in Mdantsane in Buffalo City, Tsolo in the Mhlontlo Municipality, Norwood in Mthatha and villages such as Colosa, Timane, and eCamagwini and Idutywa.
“ … we will return at the end of January to assess what progress will be underway by then,” said Minister Mokonyane.
The delivery of water tankers in areas such as the Govan Mbeki township in Idutywa has been inconsistent and there has been limited information-sharing with communities on when and where to expect water.
The Minister was assured that disruptions in supply in Mdantsane and Norwood in Mthatha have since been resolved. There may be delays in pumping to higher lying areas in Mdantsane for instance but these will soon normalise as well.
“Because we represent a caring government, we have had to recall our teams and cancel any holiday plans to ensure that our people receive their due services accordingly. Service to our people is our priority,” said Minister Mokonyane. – SAnews.gov.za
