The Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina, has handed over the James Kleynhans Water Treatment Plant to Makana Local Municipality to address the ongoing water shortages in the area.

The R393 million water treatment plant, with a capacity upgrade, was handed over on Friday, 20 September 2024.

The water treatment now has an increased capacity of pumping 20 megalitres from 10 megalitres per day.

The project was funded by the Department of Water and Sanitation through the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG), with Amatola Water Board as the implementing agent.

Speaking during the handover, the Minister emphasised the importance of effective operation and maintenance of infrastructure to improve the delivery of water to the affected communities.

‘I cannot overemphasise enough how important it is for the local municipality to ensure that the water treatment plant is well maintained. The maintenance of infrastructure is not just a nice thing to do, but an obligation by law that it should be don
e,’ Majodina said.

The plant is set to benefit 97 815 people and created employment opportunities for 90 locals during construction.

Meanwhile, in Gqeberha, the Minister undertook oversight inspections of bulk water leaks meters, which have been installed in different parts of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro as an intervention from the Ministry of Water and Sanitation to help the metro to address non-revenue water challenges.

Part of the ministry’s intervention was a directive to the metro to implement a robust leak detection and fixing programme aimed at addressing the amount of water that was unaccounted for.

Nelson Mandela Bay Metro supplies about 310 megalitres per day of water to 1.3 million residents within its boundaries, and smaller municipalities outside its boundaries.

In the past several financial years, the department said 40% to 50% of the water supply was deemed non-revenue water.

‘Therefore, the programme is aimed at reducing water losses to 20%. The installation of Generation Meter Adapters
(GMAs) and District Meter Area (DMA) meters can indicate areas where the highest water losses occur, and where to implement interventions.

‘South Africa is a water-scarce country. It is, therefore, unacceptable that water is being lost through leaks, which then affects the security of water. Through the leak detection and fixing programme, it is evident that the war on leaks can be won,’ Majodina explained.

So far, 12 429 water leaks have been successfully repaired on the water reticulation network and 34 494 on domestic repairs.

She reiterated the department’s commitment to effectively implement bulk water projects in several parts of the Eastern Cape to ensure water security for current and future generations.

The Minister was supported by Makana Local Municipality Mayor Yandiswa Vara in Makhanda and Deputy Mayor Babalwa Lobishe in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality in Gqeberha, as well as several officials of the department and Amatola Water.

Source: South African Government News Agency