R66 million. That is what is needed for the Parys Water Treatment Plant. This was announced at a meeting last week, where Ngwathe’s executive mayor, Ms Victoria de Beer, and municipal management gave community leaders and councillors feedback on discussions with the Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation on Parys’s water crisis.
The mayor said the municipality was awaiting approval of funding for a project at the water treatment plant, which the Department of Water and Sanitation would oversee. Following the department’s earlier evaluation of the treatment plant, a second follow-up meeting between the department, the Ngwathe Municipality, Cogta (Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs), representatives of the National Treasury and other stakeholders was to be held this week. A site meeting at the plant is planned for 15 February.
The plant currently produces only six megalitres of water, instead of 15 megalitres, due to numerous issues at the plant and in the water distribution network. Load shedding only worsens the situation.
The town’s constant water problems have resulted in recent protest action and the burning of tyres and municipal water tanks. Community members took to the streets in anger and frustration, demanding water in their taps.
At the time of print, there was still no water distribution to areas in Tumahole and Schonkenville, where water tankers used to fill municipal water tanks that had been put up as a temporary measure to supply water. Of around 95 municipal JoJo tanks, only three were not burnt.
Should funding be approved, the short-term focus would be on increasing the water pressure and quantity by increasing the pump capacity at the water purification plant from 420 to 600 cubic metres per second. It would also be on procuring a generator for the plant and refurbishing the clarification system. Besides that, the focus would be on replacing the filter medium at the plant to prevent frequent blockage and unnecessary back-washing.

Other priorities would be to instal pressure towers in Tumahole, and a telemetry system at the treatment plant and reservoirs, as well as a new dedicated line from the treatment plant to reservoirs 1 and 2. Long term, the focus will be on increasing the capacity of the treatment plant to 40 megalitres per day, replacing asbestos pipes with PVC pipes, and installing pressure-releasing valves at high critical pressure points.

At the meeting, Tupaaco chairperson Adv. Mandla Mabotho said the intention of the protest action was never to burn or damage property but to voice the frustration of the community with the ongoing water crisis. “We all saw it coming. We are sitting on a ticking time bomb,” Mabotho said. He said people’s human rights are affected, and the protest could have been avoided had the municipality taken action earlier.
From feedback at the meeting, it was also clear that every entity of the community suffered as a result of the protest action and that the community wants no more excuses or empty promises. They want accountability and commitment to service delivery, including clean drinking water.

It was  agreed that municipal management would meet with community leaders again to give feedback on progress made.