More than 500 households in four Eastern Cape villages are expected to benefit from a R95m water infrastructure refurbishment project launched by the Alfred Nzo District Municipality.
The two-year project will involve the refurbishment and construction of bulk water infrastructure designed to convey raw water from the Umzimvubu River to the Mhleleni Water Treatment Works.
The villages of Rhwantsana, Mhleleni, Nkumba and Lugangatho, near Ntabankulu, have largely relied on boreholes for their water supply.
The municipality said the refurbishment project, officially launched on April 30, was intended to provide a more reliable and improved water supply to nearly 3,000 villagers.
Alfred Nzo municipal spokesperson Luncedo Walaza said the project aimed to address longstanding problems linked to water treatment and ageing infrastructure.
“The Mhleleni Water Treatment Works is one of the projects wherein initial design plans omitted prioritisation of water process, which did not inhibit the characterisation of water being treated, resulting in continuous silting,” Walaza said.
“Furthermore, vandalism and theft of other major components brought the project to a halt.”
He said the refurbishment would introduce updated treatment processes and increase the scheme’s capacity to meet demand in the area.
“The refurbishment will enable utilisation of modern water processing techniques with an increased capacity to meet the demand of regional water scheme capability,” Walaza said.
The project will include the construction of a new package water treatment plant, refurbishment of the existing sand filtration system, reconstruction of the uplift pump station and the construction of a new abstraction point upstream from the existing one.
The municipality said the filtration system would be repurposed to reduce sediment in raw water before pumping and treatment.
“While [boreholes] provided a basic level of access, they are not always reliable and are susceptible to seasonal fluctuations,” Walaza said.
“In addition, borehole water is confirmed [to be] of acceptable quality before it is handed over to the community, but during seasonal fluctuations communities tend to go to untreated water sources due to water scarcity, where quality cannot always be guaranteed to meet potable water standards.”
We ask the community to work with us and the contractors to ensure this project finishes on time, so that every home can benefit as soon as possible
— Tsileng Sobuthongo, Alfred Nzo mayor
Alfred Nzo mayor Tsileng Sobuthongo said the project would create employment opportunities during construction.
“This is about the people’s basic right to water,” Sobuthongo said.
“We ask the community to work with us and the contractors to ensure this project finishes on time, so that every home can benefit as soon as possible.”
The municipality said it had strengthened planning and project management oversight after previous financial and contractual challenges linked to water infrastructure projects in the district.
Walaza said the municipality had also introduced tighter controls after its accounts were previously frozen over an outstanding debt owed to a service provider involved in the installation and commissioning of water treatment works in KwaBhaca (formerly Mount Frere) in 2015.
“We have put in place improved planning, budgeting and project management controls to mitigate financial and implementation risks,” he said.
The project forms part of broader efforts by the district municipality to improve water infrastructure in rural communities that continue to face supply interruptions and limited access to treated water.
Many communities in the Alfred Nzo district still rely on boreholes, rivers and communal water points, particularly during periods of drought and infrastructure breakdowns.
Daily Dispatch
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