Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, David Mahlobo has called for an acceleration plan to expedite the completion of the upgrading of the Brits Water Treatment Works (WTW) in the North West which has been marred by lengthy delays since its inception 16 years ago.
Mahlobo’s comments come after visiting the plant, where he was accompanied by the MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, Gaoage Molapisi, Executive Mayor of Madibeng Municipality, Douglas Maimane, and the Deputy Chairperson of the Board of Magalies Water, Malebo Matolong who met with the appointed contractors and the project managers to assess progress of the project.
Speaking on YOU FM Newshour, Mahlobo said that no amount of explanation will justify why the project was delayed for this long.
“We can have many explanations they can make but at the end of the day they’re not helpful.
“In other words, we must admit that those who were there before us, we must correct their failure in terms of ensuring that these people (of Madibeng) whose rights of having access to water were violated get water.
“We went there after our previous Minister Senzo Mchunu and now Minister Pemmy Majodina, we took a decision to unblock projects that were an embarrassment to the state but that were denying citizens their rights to access to work and Brits Water Treatment Works,” said Mahlobo.
Meanwhile, Mahlobo said they’re happy that the project includes the refurbishment and upgrading of Treatment Works from a 60 Ml/day to an 80 Ml/day to enable the plant to treat raw water, upgrade raw water pump station and pipeline, and upgrade the distribution system up to the bulk water reservoirs is almost complete.
“I was very pleased to see that there is some work happening now in a more structured way. Because for the first time you could see the implementing agent Magalies Water has a competent Project Manager, I was pleased to see that the Project is at 97% completion and that all issues of the community that led to the delay of the project resolved.
“The pumps are there, and other sections of the project are starting to work but then because we have been made to lie as government to citizens over time, I demanded that they put an acceleration plan to complete the remaining work.
“Because if this project was done within the agreed time, the people of Madibeng in entirety would be having water,” explained Mahlobo.
The project was implemented in four phases and the first and the second phases of the project were completed in 2020.
This included the refurbishment of the water treatment works and the upgrading of raw water pump stations, both mechanical and electrical works.
The Deputy Minister said that the cost of the projected has ballooned to over R200m from the initial cost value of R80m that was funded by the Department through its Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) and implemented by Magalies Water Board.
“The amount has escalated, I would say at this stage, but I know that the Department has spent more than R200m now. There are still prices that are dollar denominated, and we’re going to be buying fuel and remember we’re not an oil producing country. There’s an impact on those issues, but we will be able to ensure that we account for cent used, and whether some of the escalations are justifiable or not,” remarked Mahlobo
Meanwhile, Molapisi said the provincial government is also committed to seeing the project completed following many delays experienced in the past.
“My interest is really about the completion of the project to ensure that water is being delivered to the people.
“We’re not entirely satisfied as the provincial government about the progress, but we hope that it will be completed on time and finally handed over to the local municipality,” said Molapisi.
