Pretoria - Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu has slammed the City of Tshwane for failing to address the ongoing problem of dirty water in Hammanskraal in spite of the metro having the finances and capacity to do so.
Addressing the media on Friday, Mchunu said Tshwane was “resisting” the provision of clean water to the township. He said the municipality had been assessed by his department and found to possess adequate skills and finances to tackle the water and sanitation problem in the area.
The department, he said, had received an assurance from the Treasury which advised that “where we are seeking money to intervene directly, we would rather opt out to talking to Tshwane because they have enough money”.
“Tshwane has money to rehabilitate and fix whatever that needs to be fixed in their system, but they have been resisting to do this for reasons known to them and not known to any other person. They have not been dealing with their responsibility on the matters,” Mchunu said.
He described the metro’s reluctance to perform their responsibilities to provide clean water as “totally unacceptable and totally unjustifiable”.
Mchunu said: “We are in negotiation with them and we are close to resolving the matter, and then there will be an argument and we seek to escalate it to a court order so that everybody is forced to comply with their responsibilities.”
He said Hammanskraal was supplied by three water suppliers: Magalies Water Board, Rand Water and Tshwane.
According to him, the other two entities had been doing well in supplying water to their areas.
Mchunu’s comments followed the City’s recent decision to fire a contractor appointed to upgrade the Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Works, which was identified as a source of dirty water for Hammanskraal residents.
The plant lacked capacity to purify wastewater, resulting in the sludge being discharged into the Apies River.
The contractor was appointed for Phase 1 of the project, which involved civil and mechanical work for the refurbishment of elements of the plant as well as upgrading and extending others, according to the City.
Utility services MMC Daryl Johnston previously said the refurbishment and upgrade project was needed to improve the capacity of the treatment works to process the large amount of wastewater coming into the plant.
Pretoria News