Hammanskraal: Expect ‘first drop of drinkable water’ in Sept – Mchunu

The project to increase the plant’s capacity by over double its current volume is a joint intervention between the City of Tshwane and the National Department of Water and Sanitation to address the long-standing water problems in Tshwane.

The completion of the three-phase Klipdrift package plant will see 50 mega litres per day supplied to parts of Hammanskraal by June 2025.

The project can potentially create 70 jobs for locals across three wards.

Upgrades at the plant include building sludge handling facilities and installing new water pipelines that will connect to Tshwane’s network and the problematic Temba Wastewater works.

It’s expected that by September of this year, 12,5 mega litres will be supplied from the Pienaar’s River catchment, reaching the taps of nearly 50,000 affected households.

Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu confirmed this during an oversight visit and sod-turning ceremony at the plant on Wednesday.

“The first drop of water from this package plant we will see in September. It’s no longer an open-ended thing. But, in the meantime, Tshwane is going to be running tankers just to ensure that people get clean water.”

However, during an engagement with residents at the Hammanskraal Community Hall, Zanele Nkuna told Mchunu and Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink that there were still areas that were being overlooked by the tanker suppliers because of corruption and a lack of accountability and oversight.

“The very same tankers that have been appointed by the municipality sell the water to us. We want to know who is responsible for the deployment of those tankers. How do they monitor them to make sure that they deliver to the people? We are tired of these tankers,” said a frustrated Nkuna.

At the same time, the Tshwane mayor stressed that stringent security measures must be implemented to prevent possible tender-related sabotage at the water plants.

The metro previously revealed that it spent nearly R50 million on water tankers in the last financial year.

“The value of the package plant is that it allows us to eliminate water tankers. Immediately, when you say that, you realise the risk that this project faces from sabotage because of vested interests,” said Brink.

“One of the things we are going to make sure that we do is cooperate with different spheres of government to secure the package plant because people don’t want water from tankers.”

One resident, who lives with her pensioner mother and relies on the R350 grant for income, said they spend up to R150 a week on store-bought water when the tankers don’t deliver.

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