A collaborative project among the University of Fort Hare (UFH), the Amathole District Municipality (ADM) and the Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality, to bring access to safe drinking water to the residents of Dikeni (Alice), has been hailed as the Presidency’s District Development Model (DDM) in action.
The water treatment works project in Ntselamanzi is one of two developments funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to the tune of R130-million; the second project entails the upgrading of the wastewater treatment works.
Two months after the site was handed over to Mpumalanga Construction, a delegation led by UFH vice-chancellor professor, Sakhela Buhlungu, ADM executive mayor, Anele Ntsangani ,and Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality mayor, Nomhle Sango, visited the site to reaffirm their commitment to delivering this service to the Alice community, including the 10 000 students on the UFH’s main campus.
On this project, UFH is the implementing agent, ADM is the owner of the water treatment works, and Raymond Mhlaba LM is the beneficiary of the project.
The process is facilitated by the UFH in conjunction with the Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding.
On arrival, the delegation found contractors hard at work, drilling, grinding, and excavating.
The visitors were taken on a tour of the site led by Dave de Wet from Sinakho Consulting, and a progress report was shared by Lusanda Sihlahla, the managing director of Mpumalanga Construction.
“This project is a step in the right direction towards government’s DDM, a model that seeks to foster a practical inter-governmental relations mechanism to plan, budget and implement jointly to provide a coherent government for the people of this country,” said ADM executive mayor, Anele Ntsangani.
Sango added that the collaborative project would bring much-needed relief to the communities of Alice.
“As you are aware, the town is facing on-going water supply challenges.
“We are grateful for the project because it will bring those challenges to an end,” she said.
The work to be carried out entails extensive upgrades on the treatment plant, the reservoir, and the reticulation system.
The current capacity of the water treatment works is between 70 and 80 litres per second, and once the upgrade work is complete the capacity will increase to 140 litres per second.
The development is expected to take 14 months to complete and, upon completion, the campus and surrounding households will have an increased and more reliable water supply with adequate pressure.
– ISSUED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF FORT HARE
