• Mchunu says the R4 billion Giyani Bulk Water Project is completed.
• 24 of the 55 villages are either receiving water or are set to get it early next year. 
• Lesotho, De Hoop, Pilanesberg, uMkhomazi, and other projects are either completed or substantial progress has been made.
• Most of the pipelines damaged by the Durban floods have been refurbished. 

Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu says his department has completed or made notable progress on most critical infrastructure projects nationwide, but communities are either getting water already or are set to get it early next year. 

In an exclusive interview with African Times on Friday last week (May 17) – shortly after inspecting projects in Giyani and other parts of Limpopo – Mchunu said he was satisfied with service delivery strides made by his department, especially in the latter years of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Sifth Administration. 

On May 29, South Africans will vote in the most competitive polls since the end of apartheid rule in 1994 to elect a new government. Opinion polls show that the governing African National Congress (ANC) may dip below the 50 percent mark but still govern the country through a coalition. 

Mchunu inspected various projects across the country recently, including the R4 billion Giyani Bulk Water Project in Limpopo on April 23, after his department fast-tracked them amid a public outcry over water shortages. The project involves upgrading water pipes and fixing reservoirs to supply water to 55 villages within the Mopani District Municipality. It faced a decade-long delay attributed to poor performance and alleged tender irregularities.   

The minister said the Giyani project was “steaming ahead” and was due for completion on May 15, according to the contractors.

“It would mean that we are then going to start supplying to the bulk lines. Most of the bulk lines to the 24 villages have been completed and connected to the reticulation lines, which would mean it would be the beginning of the process of completing the supply, right from Nandoni to the [Nsami] treatment plant and then finally to households,” said Mchunu. 

He said that while most of the construction work has been completed, the water supply remained rationed because the Nsami Treatment Plant, which had a capacity of 25 megalitres per day, didn’t function optimally.

“So, there are no issues between the Nandoni and Nsami Dam. That was completed on the 15th of March as we had said. Late as we were because we had spoken about September, but we explained ourselves with the deadline of March. In September we said the deadline would be the end of February. We were not precise on the finishing by [the] end of February, but we made it on the 15th of March. Everything was completed. All they do is maintenance because as soon as the pipeline is done you must do maintenance,” he said.

When asked when Giyani residents could expect a reliable water supply, Mchunu said that, if the contractor’s undertaking was anything to go by, it should be happening by now. 

“The undertaking from the contractor was that, ‘14 May I am done’ with all of this’. We went in to check the work, and it did tally with the projection. If indeed it was completed, it would mean that it was commissioned or it would be commissioned in a day or two. Once it’s commissioned it means pumping into the bulk lines will then start. The bulk lines, even if not all of them have been completed. They were in the various stages of completion when I was there. The most advanced in a village was at 91 percent. There are villages that have been getting the water from the plant. Remember I said it was functioning at 15 percent,” Mchunu stressed. 

“There is one village, I forgot its name, where the bulk line that goes into it will supply 17 other villages. Once we complete that bulk line, most of the 24 villages will be completed. And all those villages would have taps in homes that would be ready to receive water from the bulk lines.”

Mchunu said his department had completed or made progress towards all key infrastructure projects nationwide. 

“I would say, in the sixth administration, especially in the latter part of it, a lot has happened. Billions of rands are being spent making sure that we are bringing hope to people in terms of supply. So, by and large we have covered all the corners of the country but not everybody is getting water,” Mchunu said.

“Even on Friday (May 24) I would be commissioning the Pilanesberg bulk line which would, to a larger extent, resolve issues of water in Rustenburg. We have completed some of the things, and we are on top of the things currently. Most of our work will start bearing fruit throughout the country towards the end of the year and next year.” 

He added that key water supply projects “that collapsed were revised”. 

“That’s your Lesotho phase two, your uMkhomazi, which we are now sourcing funding, all the procurement processes completed. And then Nandoni has been completed. De Hoop Dam, which we are doing with business to supply water to Polokwane, is going to pick up in July when work gets advertised because all the planning has been completed. Umzimvubu is underway, and even Lower uMkhomazi, the off-channel dam is being built, the reservoir is 46 per cent complete, and we are going to start the 100 megalitre water treatment works.”

Mchunu said construction of the Clanwilliam Dam on the West Coast started a few months ago. “So, those projects are very key in supplying water to various people and municipalities. Where we are, we are at district level. That’s why we have gone to the Eastern Cape and spent three days, we went to Sekhukhune (Limpopo) and spent five days there, because we are now at that level in terms of detail,” he said.

Mchunu maintained that some water projects were never completed due to vandalism.  

“We are now looking at why we have in some provinces some schemes and some homes with no water. I was in Matatiele ward seven days before last (May). This scheme was built, it was commissioned but no water ever came out of the taps. We sent investigators from the head office two months ago to make an investigation. They made it, and reported back, just to understand this phenomenon throughout the country as to why we have this. As I speak to you, I was shown vandalism even if it was just a start. So, we are dealing with all those people.” 

He added that the department has repaired infrastructure damaged by the Durban floods. The rest belonged to the eThekwini Metro and were being attended to. 

“The others belonged to eThekwini, which they needed to deal with. Now our interaction and engagement with them is that they have started, and a new pipe is going to be commissioned in June this year,” said Mchunu.