Water and Sanitation Minister, Senzo Mchunu, has reassured the residents of Giyani that progress is  being made in the Giyani Water Supply scheme.

“The Giyani Water Project has always been a priority for the ministry, and it is unfortunate and regrettable that it has taken this long to provide the people of Giyani with clean water.

“[However], I want to assure the residents that we are hard at work and will see the project to completion,” Mchunu said.

The Minister was responding to a poster doing the rounds on social media, advising of a “Giyani Shutdown” on Monday, 3 October 2022.

The poster listed a number of reasons behind the shutdown, including the incomplete water project, demand for clean water and doing away with corrupt officials.

Mchunu said the ministry has, just over a year in the office, managed to do more than what was done in the past three years, something he said should be seen as “an indication of our commitment to seeing this project to finality”.

“The residents of Giyani and the local business forum, through the Mopani Multi-stakeholder Forum, have been taken on board in respect of the progress of the project and its delays.

“We have remained transparent, both in respect of the progress and financials,” Mchunu said.

The Minister said one of the issues that has contributed to the delay, which was addressed at one of the multi-stakeholder forum meetings, was the awarding of security contracts by the department’s Construction North Unit.

Mchunu said the project has been and still is the subject of a number of investigations by the Special Investigating Unit.

“Corruption has been the major contributor to the prolonged delays, and as we have repeatedly maintained – every cent is being followed and those entrusted with those functions will have to account.

“All we ask from the residents is their co-operation. We are committed to providing them with clean water as their basic human right and we will achieve this.

“We are appealing to those behind the shutdown to be realistic and acknowledge that water has arrived in Giyani. There are ongoing update briefings, and this represents progress that has never been seen before. We therefore request that we be given time to catch up and complete the project,” Mchunu said.

In due course, the Minister said he will go to Giyani to monitor progress and consult with all the relevant stakeholders.

During a media briefing on his one year in office, which was held on 26 August 2022, Mchunu gave a detailed update on the Giyani Water Project.

The Minister reported that substantial progress has been made in respect of the pipeline from Nandoni to Nsami, with 4km left for the connection.

“Work will get underway at the beginning of September to refurbish the existing water works. In Malamulele, we anticipate the reservoir to be completed and operational by February 2023.

“Currently, there is now just under 2km left, excluding the connection from the river to the dam, which is about 720 meters,” Mchunu said at the time.

The department explained that owing to the delays that have plagued the project – including work stoppages, which took three weeks to resolve – the Minister decided to intervene and speed up processes via the Construction North Unit.

As things currently stand, progress is as follows:

Giyani Bulk Secondary Water Supply Intervention: 56.8% (the remaining work includes connections to the reservoirs and refurbishment/construction of service reservoirs);

Giyani Water Treatment Works upgrade and Phase 1 reticulation to 55 villages: construction to commence in November 2022; and

Nandoni to Nsami bulk pipeline: overall project to be completed by November 2022.

Source: South African Government News Agency