BUSHBUCKRIDGE – Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) Minister Nomvula Mokonyane revealed that the two water schemes operating and serving the whole of Bushbuckridge have the capacity to ensure that all residents receive water by 2018.

She said this while responding to residents’ water related concerns during the Presidential Siyahlola Programme pioneered by President Jacob Zuma held in Thulamahashi.

Mokonyane said this milestone will be achieved if communities work together with the government in ensuring that illegal activities that interfere with progress and maintenance of infrastructure are eliminated completely.

The visit started off with the President’s tour of the Inyaka Water Treatment Works and a visit to some of the project’s beneficiaries residing in the Blakfesi Village to hear if they were satisfied with the results.

To date the Inyaka Regional Bulk Water scheme located in Bushbuckridge has provided more than 20 000 households with water throughout the two phases of its reticulation project.

This covers about 35 villages in the area. DWS has at the moment intervened to combat challenges of municipal and local water board incapacity by deploying the Rand Water Board to assist in the area.

This has helped to fast track the progress and benefits of the Inyaka Project. The Siyahlola Presidential Programme in Bushbuckridge was the President’s initiative aimed at monitoring progress in basic services’ delivery projects in Mpumalanga Province, with an emphasis on water and sanitation provision.

It was also a platform for the people of Bushbuckridge to engage with the President and various Ministers on how to best solve the challenges they face.