THE Giyani Bulk Water Supply Scheme, which was aimed to ease the suffering of communities sharing water with donkeys, cows and wild animals, began in August 2014 following a visit by former president Jacob Zuma.
But nine years later, the promise of clean water has not been delivered.
The original budget for the project was R502 million. It was supposed to be completed in 2017. Now it amounts to R3 billion.
The completion date has already been postponed more than ten times since its origin in 2014.
Minister Senzo Mchunu promised the thirsty people that the project would be completed in March but changed his tune April during a visit to the area and said it would be completed by the end of the year.
“The remaining work is in the hands of Mopani District Municipality, to fast track the refurbishment of the Giyani Water Treatment Plant so that it reaches its maximum capacity of treating 30 megalitres of water per day to benefit the villages.
"We continue to support the municipality in this quest, and we expect it to be finished by December 2023. Upon completion, work is underway to increase the capacity of the plant and the construction is set to commence in April 2024 for a duration 24 months”, he said in April.
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When Daily Sun visited Giyani, work was indeed underway. Workers were busy digging and connecting the pipes.
But it is not all smooth sailing. In one area not far from Nandoni Dam, where a 40-kilometre pipeline will be connected, there is a spring which workers complained that it has been giving them a headache.
They said it fills up the trench and has to be drained all the time before they could do any work.
“We will drain water today but when we come back tomorrow the trench will be full,” said a worker.
He said they were using a generator to pump the water out.
His co-worker said: “We don't know what's going to be the next plan. We've been trying for weeks but the water keeps filling up this hole.”
The project planned is to transfer water from Nandoni to Nsami Dam, where it will be treated and distributed to villages in Giyani.
This will supplement the supply from Middle Letaba Dam, which is not enough for the Giyani communities.
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DSW) spokeswoman, Wisane Mavasa, told Daily Sun that the Giyani project has four work packages.
She said the construction of 40km bulk raw water pipeline from Nandoni to Nsami to augment water supply in Giyani has been completed.
Mavasa said the second package of construction of about 325km bulk pipeline to distribute potable bulk water to 55 villages in Giyani was still underway.
"The project is currently underway, and 300km of installations have already been covered with the remaining work expected to be completed soon," Mavasa said.
She said the reticulation of the 55 villages was a new added and accelerated project and work package, that the department is working with Mopani District to increase the level of services from communal taps to yard connections through the Through the Bulk Water Infrastructure Grant (WSIG).
Mavasa said the project took so long because there were challenges, including issues of poor project management, land and servitudes and community protests on the pipe route from Nandoni to Giyani.
“When minister took office at the DWS in August 2021, the Nandoni to Nsami Raw water bulk line and the construction of 325 km secondary bulk pipelines were in a snail pace after they were started in 2014, and Mchunu gave a directive to Lepelle Northern Water, as the implementing agent, to accelerate the project to completion,” said Mavasa.
“The DWS, led by minister Mchunu and working with the Mopani District as the Water service Authority, is committed to see the project to its completion and the communities earmarked to benefit from this project indeed receive water as promised.
"The remaining work is in the hands of Mopani District to fast-track the refurbishment of the water treatment plant so that it reaches its maximum capacity to benefit the whole of Giyani, and that all the villages are reticulated within timelines so as to ensure that communities receive the long-awaited water supply. We continue to support the municipality in this quest,” Mavasa said.
Vharanani Projects have been given the tender to complete the project, but the assistant operations director Ciphas Makaza, didn't respond to text and WhatsApp messages sent by Daily Sun.
