The OR Tambo District Municipality is spending nearly R64m on the construction of nine new water pump stations in a bid to improve water supply in Mthatha and surroundings.
The district council was appointed as the water service authority by the cabinet in 2003 responsible for water provision in five local municipalities under its jurisdiction.
These include King Sabata Dalindyebo which consists of Mthatha, Mqanduli and Coffee Bay towns, Nyandeni which has Libode and Ngqeleni as its urban centres, Port St Johns, Kumkani Mhlontlo comprising Tsolo and Qumbu towns and Ingquza Hill made up of Lusikisiki and Flagstaff.
District municipal spokesperson Ncebakazi Kolwane said the pump stations formed part of the municipality’s long-term intervention to secure and stabilise the raw water supply from the Mthatha Dam to the Thornhill and Highbury water treatment works plants which supplied Mthatha.
“This intervention includes the construction of nine pump stations that form part of a single integrated raw water supply system from the dam,” she said.
“The award amount for the current civil works contract is R49.8m. In addition, the cost of the pumps is estimated at about R14m.”
Kolwane said the Thornhill water treatment works plant was presently receiving raw water from the Mthatha Dam through a fully functional temporary siphon system.
Though the system was able to provide the exact volumes of water required to meet the operational demands of the plant, the new pump stations would provide a permanent and direct raw water supply from the dam to both Thornhill and Highbury.
“The current siphon system serves as a temporary supply to Thornhill,” Kolwane said.
“Once completed, the pump stations will also serve as an alternative supply during major breakdowns or planned maintenance at the main pump station.
“This will improve system reliability and result in a more stable and secure water supply to households, businesses, schools and health facilities in Mthatha and surrounding areas.”
Out of the nine pump stations, five would be used to help with the extraction of raw water from the Mthatha Dam to Thornhill while the other four would deliver water to Highbury.
In January, it was reported that the district municipality had spent more than R200m on phase 1 of the construction of the Highbury water treatment works plant.
Phase 2, currently under way, was valued at more than R300m.
On completion Highbury, at 50ML, would supply the northern and southern areas of Mthatha, extending up to 40km outside the city to include Libode and Ngqeleni.
In 2024, OR Tambo municipal bosses announced an injection of nearly R100m towards increasing the capacity of Thornhill from 80ML to 115ML a day.
The municipality revealed in 2025 that it had spent more than R200m on replacing stolen and damaged infrastructure in more than 55 water schemes responsible for supplying rural villages across the district.
Kolwane said about R95m, through the Water Services Infrastructure Grant, had been allocated for water projects in the district in the current financial year, including refurbishment and upgrading of existing water schemes.
The grant is aimed at accelerating the delivery of water and sanitation, especially in rural municipalities.
She said a total of 11 water schemes had been included in the budget.
Meanwhile, R250m from the regional bulk infrastructure grant had been allocated towards new bulk water infrastructure.
More than R518m from a total allocation of R716.9m from the municipal infrastructure grant had also been committed towards water projects, with the remaining R198.8m allocated for sanitation projects.
In 2021, district municipal bosses admitted it would take more than 20 years and about R10bn to clear its water provision backlog.
