This, after the department vowed to ensure the installation of 5 000 water tanks to alleviate the water crisis experienced in the region. The promise was made following sporadic protests in Qwaqwa that saw the town coming to a complete standstill with schools and businesses shut down at the beginning of the year after the tragic death of an eight-year-old girl, Mosa Mbele, who drowned while fetching water at a river. 

Minister Lindiwe Sisulu then announced that the Department’s intervention would be an allocation of R220 million and 5 000 water tankers to address the situation. 

In a parliamentary written response to the DA dated May 29, the department, however, confirms the 5 000 water tanks are yet to be delivered. The Department says 2 000 water tanks were ordered out of the 5 000 and confirms that as at March the 23rd, only 261 of the 2 000 water tanks had been delivered to Qwaqwa.  

The Department, however, maintains the number will be increasing as time progresses.

“The water tanks are being delivered in batches to manage the risk of delivering all 5 000 tanks at once due to lack of sufficient storage facilities and instability within the municipality. The number of water tanks is increasing as they are fabricated and delivered to Qwaqwa and subsequently installed in the locations identified in affected wards. The construction of water tank stands and installation is currently in progress in wards of the Maluti-A-Phofung Local Municipality. Ordering and subsequent delivery of the additional 3,000 water tanks will follow after the initial 2000 tanks are delivered”.

OFM News previously reported that Free State MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Thembeni Nxangisa, assured the public that his department will be working closely with the Sedibeng Water Board as it is the implementing agent, ensuring sustainable water supply and accounts to Sisulu’s office. 

Nxangisa said in addition to the water tankers, they will sink new boreholes in Qwaqwa, and the provincial department will also ensure that all water projects that were halted reach completion. 

As the country prepares for the reopening of schools, more concerns over water tanks in Maluti-A-Phofung and its schools have further been raised by the Public Servants Association of South Africa, stating that a number of schools are still without water supply and that schools should not reopen until the department has provided water tanks to schools and communities in the area.

The national department, however, says in a statement that “the current water sources utilised to fill up the water tankers delivered are Sterkfontein Water Treatment Plant (from Sterkfontein Dam) through the Bluegumbosch Connection (Water Tanker Facility) and Makwane Water Treatment Plant (from Metsi Matsho Dam) through the Comet Connection (Water Tanker Facility). 

The other sources are groundwater sources (boreholes) located in various areas of Qwaqwa. While using these sources, the department, municipality and Sedibeng Water are currently implementing long term interventions to ensure that water comes from taps and not through water tanks.

OFM News