Millions pledged to hydrate Mondlo

MONDLO residents may soon be saying goodbye to their water woes.

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister, Zweli Mkhize visited the township on Saturday, to assess the area’s water supply infrastructure projects and address the community.

The Minister promised R20-million would be allocated towards rectifying water shortage problems in Mondlo, particularly given the increasing demand for water from the area.

Mondlo supplies water to many neighbouring areas as well.

“The eMondlo community is facing service delivery challenges due to an old waterborne sewer system, which is characterised by frequent pipe bursts, blockages, overflowing manholes, poor operations and maintenance of waste water treatment plant, and poor roads infrastructure,” read a statement from the Ministry.

Mkhize is concerned that poor water supply could be the result of dilapidated infrastructure, and said funding would thus be used to also refurbish and rebuild the infrastructure network.

His intervention was welcomed with great applause from members of the Mondlo community, who said this may be the light at the end of the tunnel. Water issues have plagued the community there for a number of years.

“The design and construction entails the laying of approximately 10 kilometres of water pipelines, with a new reservoir and a Package Plant for purification of the raw water supply,” explained the Ministry statement.

The project will also serve the Enyathi/Bhokwe Villages.

At present, an estimated 7.1km of water pipelines have been laid in Enyathi, 1.4km of water pipelines in Bhokwe, and excavations for the reservoir site are currently underway.

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