The Deputy Minister of the Department of Water and Sanitation, Judith Tshabalala, said a task team has been established in conjunction with the Rustenburg Local Municipality, to release grants to solve water infrastructure and sewage spillage challenges in the North West.
Tshabalala was speaking on Tuesday, after conducting an oversight visit in Rustenburg and at the Bospoort Water and Treatment Works and she said the municipality must prioritise problematic areas within the province.
“Part of our visit was to check how far the implementation is. We have through the task team intervention, together with the municipality released a grant that will solve all the infrastructure challenges.
“The infrastructure backlog must be dealt with as a matter of urgency, as gone are the days where people are living in unbearable conditions with no water.
“This we call Operation Bulela Metsi, in all the areas that I have visited today. I understand how residents feel and how the storm water drainage system has affected them. The sewage that is coming here, which affects the commercial business it’s unbearable.
“The municipality is responsible and tomorrow they will be passing their budget, they should make sure that their planning includes (solving) these problems. They must come with measures to sort out this mess, said the Deputy Minister.
Tshabalala also assured residents from Rustenburg East that the sewage spillages in their area will be solved.
The Provincial HOD Maiketso Lobakeng acknowledged that Rustenburg has water challenges, saying there has been a number of blockages of sewage in the area.
Lobakeng said they’d been informed that a number of illegal shacks have been built over their pipeline, and connecting to the system illegally.
He said the project will alleviate the water challenges in Phokeng and Tlhapane as they know that those areas have experienced serious water crisis.
