Question NW919 to the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation

Reply:

The 20 water trucks (tankers) referred to by the Honourable Member were procured through Amatola Water as part of the Drought Intervention Programme for the entire Eastern Cape Province.

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is currently implementing a number of long-term projects that seek to resolve the water crisis in Amathole District Municipality that are funded through government conditional grants, including the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) as well as Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG).

Projects that are funded under RBIG are:

• The Xhora Bulk Water Supply Scheme which includes a number of components, namely; the raw water supply system (river weir, pump stations and off-channel dam), the Xhora water treatment plant, and the treated water supply system. To date, 21 500 people have access to water. An additional 12 500 residents should have access to clean water in the next 3 months when the next phase is commissioned.

• The Ngqamakhwe Regional Water Supply Scheme Phase 5A, referred to as the Butterworth Emergency Water Supply Scheme, will transfer raw water from the Tsomo River to the upper reaches of the Xilinxa River Dam catchment to augment the water supply to Butterworth. The existing water treatment works (WTW) downstream of the Xilinxa Dam will be used to supply treated water to Butterworth. This project will then be integrated into the Ngqamakhwe Regional Water Supply Scheme (RWSS) and will be used to distribute potable water once the Tsomo WTW has been commissioned. The contractor has established the site and construction has commenced. The anticipated completion date is 23rd of September 2023

District Wide Refurbishment projects that include a variety of refurbishment work of water treatment works, waste water treatment works, sewer pump stations, boreholes and bulk infrastructure in the towns of Adelaide, Bedford, Butterworth and Idutywa are as follows:

• Bedford & Adelaide Town - Refurbishment of Adelaide & Bedford WTW currently under construction. The project is 50% complete and the anticipated completion date is 30th June 2021

• Butterworth Town - Augmentation of Butterworth Water supply from Teko Kona Boreholes currently under construction. The project is 90% complete and the anticipated completion date on the 30th of June 2021.

• Idutywa Town - The Amathole District Municipality will be equipping boreholes for the Augmentation of water supply around iDutywa area. The projects are to commence in 2022/23

• Water Conservation and Demand Management (WCDM) teams have been established to deal with the implementation of various WCDM strategies aimed at reducing non-revenue water within Amathole District Municipality. The Water Loss Reduction Programmes are being implemented in the Amahlathi, Great Kei, Mbashe, Mnquma, Ngqushwa and Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipalities. The projects include:
• Monthly billing analysis,
• Retrofitting of internal plumbing
• Leak Detection and repairs
• Reservoir repairs
• Dam repairs
• Meter Installations and replacements
• Water Balance Reports, and
• Pressure Management and Water Restrictions

• District Wide Water Supply which entails the provision of bulk water supply and reticulation with standpipes and/or drilling and equipping of boreholes and refurbishment of existing infrastructure.

• West Victoria East Water Supply phase 3 - The project is for the provision of water supply extension to all the local villages.

• Rural Household Sanitation for Provision of basic sanitation services - 218 Ventilated Pit Latrines to be provided in order to address the sanitation backlog within the Municipal area of Mnquma ward 11 and 4. To date, 121 VIP structures have been constructed in the villages of Mnquma, Ward 11.

• There are also Drought Intervention Projects which include projects for siting, drilling and testing of boreholes and ad-hoc emergency drought related works such as equipping of boreholes, refurbishing of pumps and generators throughout the District (Mnquma LM, Mbashe LM, Raymond Mhlaba, Adelaide, Bedford and Hogsback). Progress in this regard is as follows:
• Equipping of Goshen Borehole = 100% complete
• Construction of Butterworth Water Treatment Works Backwash recovery system = 70% complete
• Equipping of Wartburg Borehole = 45% complete

The Projects that are funded under WSIG drought funding, rolled over from the 2018/19 financial year are:

• Butterworth Water Supply - Water Treatment works backwash water recovery.
• Butterworth Water Supply - Augmentation of bulk water to Ibika from Teko Kona boreholes.

The table below shows the breakdown of the allocations per programme for 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 financial year allocation to ADM:

Programme	2018/19 Allocation	2019/20 Allocation	2020/21 Allocation
RBIG	R 66 500 000	R 99 694 000	R106 366 000
WSIG	R100 000 000	R102 000 000	R 80 000 000
WSIG Drought	R 64 000 000	R 64 000 000	-
Total	R230 500 000	R201 6294 000	R186 366 000