MBOMBELA – Council intends to give the service contract for water provision to two planned new developments, to a new service provider.
The water and sanitation services for the University of Mpumalanga, where the Lowveld Agricultural College is located on the R40, and the province’s planned fresh-produce market to be located on the Sabie/Mashishing Road, are to be handled by Rand Water, a parastatal.
This was according to a report presented during a special council meeting last week. Both areas fall outside the concession of Sembcorp Silulumanzi, a private company which has a 30-year agreement with Mbomela Local Municipality (MLM), to provide basically the entire the city with such services. It is up for renegotiation every five years, a process in which the parties are currently engaged.
The report was compiled by Mr Zaid Boroko, manager of what was formerly the committee of technical services in the municipality, until a dedicated water-and-sanitation unit was formed last week. It recommended that the supply to the new developments be isolated from the agreement with Sembcorp “to enhance the implementation-focused new mass infrastructure”, since the existing bulk water-and-sewerage capacity was insufficient to provide the required current and future demand of the new university, and thus required a significant upgrade.
The acting municipal manager, Mr Sello Ditshego recommended that the provision of bulk services for the university and market be separated from Sembcorp. The report added that “the municipality would remain responsible while final development agreements were being negotiated with the Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (MEGA) and Rand Water”.
Bulk water infrastructure had been outsourced to MEGA, which resulted in its entire board being disbanded over the weekend due to its stated “inability to focus and deliver on its mandate” by the same premier, Mr David Mabuza whose coordinating forum’s policy directives called for a relationship to be fostered between the agency, Rand Water and municipalities, according to MLM’s report.
Rand Water was also not new to Mpumalanga, but before February its service area did not stretch closer than eMalahleni when Ms Edna Molewa, minister of water and environmental affairs, extended its service area to the entire province to overlap with the operational area of the Bushbuckridge Water Board. Rand Water took over the latter’s operations in April.
The opposition in council, the DA objected to a lack of process being followed on deciding on Rand Water. Mr Jo Koster, DA caucus leader, asked why the prescribed process of appointing a service provider was not followed and why Sembcorp had been excluded from the report.
“We know they can do it and they should have been included in the report.” Contrary to what was stated, Boroko responded that it was meant only to bring to council’s attention the fact that MLM was to provide services such as water and sanitation, and electricity to these developments. New executive mayor, Cllr Sibusiso Mathonsi said due processes would be followed in choosing the provider and council would be regularly updated on the progress. “At the end of the day we will make a decision based on the process.”
The same report included that urgent infrastructure upgrades were required to ensure the sufficient availability of electricity for the university, and the transfer of jurisdiction of power supply in the area from Eskom to Mbombela needed to be done, since it previously supplied the college.
However, the municipality is confronted with challenges in this regard as the proposal has not been positively received by Eskom. Mbombela has since requested the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s intervention, in providing guidance in terms of the underlying guiding principles for the determination of electricity supply areas, within in a municipal area whereby Mbombela will supply the university township and Eskom will retain its individual customers.
Yet, the upgrade is being delayed due to the dispute and Mbombela’s Eskom account being in arrears – to the tune of R150 million. However, sources say a payback agreement has been reached whereby the accruals will be paid back by October. The DA registered its name against the report, which was accepted by council.
Mr Marius van Aardt, managing director of Sembcorp Silulumanzi, declined to comment.
