Water and Sanitation Minister, Senzo Mchunu, has expressed satisfaction with the progress of constructing an emergency water extracting pipe at the Mthatha Dam, which he says is currently at 52% completion.
Mchunu visited the construction project on April 27, as part of his two-day visit to the OR Tambo District Municipality, to assess water and sanitation-related challenges, as well as assessing the damage caused by the recent floods.
Mchunu said the emergency project, upon completion, would augment the water supply by 70 megalitres a day.
The emergency project came after an underground pipe that was extracting water from Mthatha Dam was damaged years ago, which then forced the OR Tambo District Municipality to extract water from the Mthatha River and led to a decreased supply of water to its water treatment plants.
“The emergency construction project is going to alleviate water shortages in areas (that fall) under the King Sabata Dalindyebo Municipality as it will be able to extract 70 megalitres of additional water per day and we expect it to be completed by the end of May,” Mchunu said.
He further said that the project would further address the lack of water in peripheral areas that fall under the KSD Local Municipality.
As part of his two-day visit to the OR Tambo District, Mchunu also visited the Thornhill Water Treatment Plant and further hosted a community engagement session to discuss water and sanitation-related matters at the Rotary Stadium in Ngangelizwe Township.
OR Tambo District Municipality Executive Mayor, Mesuli Ngqondwana, has welcomed the interventions made by the Department of Water and Sanitation in addressing the water and sanitation challenges in the district.
“We are heartened by the presence of the national government in the district municipality, and we continue to appeal to the private sector to join efforts to assist communities affected by the recent floods,” Ngqondwana said.
Mchunu also announced that his department would be providing additional water tankers to the district municipality to ensure provision of water to areas whose water supply infrastructure has been damaged by the recent floods.
