Two decades of water provision praised

The executive mayor of the City of Mbombela, Cllr Sibusiso Mathonsi, congratulated Sembcorp-Silulumanzi on its 20th year of servicing the municipality with water.

“I think for a concession agreement like this one that was piloted in the City, you have done well, but the challenges are still there. We are hopeful that you will soldier on, find one another until you conclude the work that you must do as part of the concession. Other small matters that affect workers and issues of skills transfer, I hope you will be able to deal with as you proceed,” said Mathonsi.

The celebration was held at Ingwenyama Lodge and was attended by the company’s director, Shyam Misra, workers and delegates from the City of Mbombela and Ehlanzeni District Municipality.
Mathonsi said: “I know in the corridors people are asking whether we must extend the contract or not extend it. That decision must be a thorough, well-thought-of process informed by what you have achieved and what is it that you want to achieve in the next 10 years,” he said.

In Pictures: Silulumanzi celebrate 20th anniversary
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Mathonsi said that he went through the details of the 30-year concession to operate and maintain water and wastewater services in the municipality.

“Part of the evaluation of the 20 years was to look at how many of all the assets you managed to put together. We are still analyzing that. We are also analyzing on how much skills you invested to your employees. The whole business module must be able to say, in the next 10 years this is what you will be doing in anticipation of going forward,” he said.
Mathonsi said according to the concession agreement, there were certain royalties to be paid by Silulumanzi to Eskom at an agreed term. “There are certain deliverables that Silulumanzi is supposed to register on our assets register. Both issues will complement each other as we continue,” he said.

He added that the municipality is focusing on a bigger picture and skills to enhance development in the City and to make sure that areas in the entire concession are provided sufficiently with water.

“Currently, we are embarking on another process to put up a dam for the City. This is still a matter we are discussing with the national government. The municipality is the biggest economic contributor to the GDP of the province and our economy relies on other economic factors, including agriculture. We need water for economic development, consumption and other activities that come with water as a resource,” he said.