The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is finalising critical tenders to address sewer spillages into the Vaal River and its surroundings.
In a statement on Sunday, the department said the upgrading of infrastructure to prevent the prolonged sewer spillages into the Vaal River and households in Emfuleni Local Municipality will begin shortly.
This as the department is finalising the evaluation of tenders that were advertised in November last year.
Tenders were advertised on 27 November 2020 and closed in January 2021, for expertise required to assist with the intervention in the areas of civil engineering, mechanical engineering and consultants to implement the work.
“As the evaluation process is at a critical state and on the verge of appointing preferred contractors, the department wishes to stress that it is working tirelessly to ensure that National Treasury, Public Finance Management act and Supply Chain Management prescripts are meticulously adhered to and that the process has integrity and is beyond reproach.
“In the coming weeks, the department would have finalised the appointment of contractors for them to immediately be on the ground, to urgently address the dire situation that requires urgent intervention,” department spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau said.
NW Premier tackles water challenges
Meanwhile, North West Premier Job Mokgoro has met with relevant stakeholders in an effort to tackle water shortage challenges in the Madibeng and Rustenburg Municipalities.
Accompanied by MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Mmoloki Cwaile, Mokgoro met with representatives from the mining giants including Impala, Samancor and Sibanyi, as well as the leadership of Madibeng and Rustenburg local municipalities.
The purpose of the meeting held at the Madibeng Local Municipality Chambers, was to come up with a workable plan of dealing with the water crisis in Segwaelane, Makolokwe, Barseba and Bethanie.
The villages have been experiencing water shortage for some time with protesters recently closing Sun City and recently the Sun City road.
The meeting also heard that illegal connections impact negatively on the reduction of pressure, drilling of boreholes and rehabilitation of the existing ones.
Mokgoro and Cwaile also met with representatives of Segwaelane, Makolokoe and Barseba to update them on government’s efforts to resolve the water challenge in their areas.
The Premier promised affected communities a speedy resolution to their challenges, and reiterated that a permanent solution will be to replace ageing asbestos pipes, with proper PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pipes to reduce water wastage of leaks and illegal connections. – SAnews.gov.za
