Photo by: Reuters
Consulting Engineers South Africa (Cesa) on Thursday said it was alarmed by the continuing water and sanitation challenges being experienced in the Madibeng local municipality, in North West, despite capital injections to tackle these problems.
The municipality had been ravaged by water shortages since July, which it had, at the time, attributed to sludge build-up at the Brits water treatment plant.
On a recent site visit, the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation noted that the challenges were compounded by the high rates of vandalism and theft to water infrastructure, particularly valves, copper and transformers.
It noted that this was a direct contributor to water shortages in many instances and had a negative effect on service delivery, as money budgeted for other purposes by the municipality was diverted towards the replacement of these missing components.
“We are appealing to the people to look after the infrastructure so that we can assist the government in accelerating service delivery throughout the country.
“With the backing of over 537 member firms, Cesa is willing and able to partner with government and other key role-players in finding lasting and practical solutions to these water challenges, especially in relation to infrastructure development,” Cesa acting CEO Wally Mayne said.