REPORT OF
THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON WATER AND SANITATION OVERSIGHT VISIT TO THE MADIBENG
LOCAL MUNICIPALITY, NORTH WEST PROVINCE, DATED 12 NOVEMBER 2014
This report serves to
provide an account of the oversight visit conducted by the Portfolio Committee on
Water and Sanitation (hereinafter the Portfolio Committee) to the Madibeng Local Municipality, North West, 23 September 2014.
1. Introduction
During the Portfolio
Committee’s engagement of the budget vote of the Department of Water and
Sanitation (hereinafter the Department), concerns were raised not only around
budgetary aspects relating to programme outcomes, but also the manner in which
budgets translated to addressing issues (such as pollution, raw sewerage
contamination, local water supply and quality, vandalism and theft of water and
sanitation infrastructure) that impacted on quality service delivery of water
and sanitation services to the citizens
of South Africa. The Portfolio
Committee, during its deliberations on the matters raised above, noted that the
magnitude and extent of the problem was a country-wide concern, and an
intervention in the form of a particular site visit as a case study should be
undertaken to assess the challenges and resultant impacts on affected
communities. A proposal was put forward
by the Portfolio Committee that the case study using the state of water and
sanitation services in the Madibeng Local
Municipality, North West, should form the basis of its findings. The Portfolio
Committee argued that this first visit should be strongly underpinned by
ongoing site visits to the area in the future to ascertain progress and assess the
long-term sustainable solutions required to address the issues.
The Portfolio
Committee thereafter made its determinations as to the specific projects that
it would visit during this period, and undertook visits to the following sites –
Rietfontein Waste Water Treatment Plant, water
contamination at Xanadu Estate and Mothutlung Waste Water Treatment Works.
The delegation
comprised the following members and staff:
Members:
Mr M Johnson (ANC)
(Chairperson); Ms J Maluleke (ANC); Mr D Mnguni (ANC); Mr T Makondo
(ANC); Ms Bilankulu (ANC); Ms H Kekana (ANC); Mr L Basson (DA); Ms Balindlela (DA); Ms Khawula
(EFF); Mr MP Galo (AIC).
Staff
Mrs M Solomons
(Committee Secretary); Ms S Dawood (Content Advisor);
Mr T Manungufala (Committee Researcher); Ms Z Kula
(Committee Assistant); Mr S Sithole (Language Practitioner); Mr G.Ntshane (Language Practitioner).
2.
BACKGROUND
Overview of the Madibeng
Local Municipality
The Madibeng Local Municipality is located in
the Bojanala Platinum District Municipality within the North West province
between the majestic ancient Magaliesberg and the
Witwatersrand mountain range. Madibeng means ‘the
place of water’. The Municipality is demarcated into 31 wards of which 10 fall
in the urban areas (Brits, Hartbeespoort and Skeerpoort), and 21 in the rural areas and villages. It
includes approximately 43 villages and 9 000 farm areas. Madibeng
is centrally situated (approximately 50 km from Pretoria, 55 km from
Johannesburg and 60 km from Rustenburg) and is easily accessible via various
road networks, amongst others, the N4 toll road, which runs from various
directions through Madibeng to Mmabatho,
as well as a railway line and airport for light aircraft.
The Municipality has a total population of 477 381, making it the second
most populous Municipality in the Bojanala District Municipality after
Rustenburg. It is highly rural, with 57 per cent of its population residing in rural
areas (tribal or traditional areas), about 28 per cent residing in urban areas
and about 15 per cent residing in farming areas. Black Africans are the
majority, with an 89 per cent share of the Madibeng
Municipality’s population. . The most commonly spoken language is Setswana.
More than half of the population is male (53 per cent) and 47 per cent
constitutes females. At age 85 and older, there are more than twice as many
women as men. People under 20 years of age make up over a quarter of the population
(33.5 per cent), and people aged 65 and older make up 5 per cent of the
population. It has about 160 724 households and the population’s electricity
access is quite high, at 81 per cent overall.
Access to water
More than 80 per cent of the households have access to water, either
bulk, full, intermediate, informal intermediate or basic supply, and more than
50 per cent of the population has no access to basic sanitation. Water is
supplied from the Harteespoort Dam and Crocodile
River. In the rural areas, borehole water is used. The southern part of the Municipality
is connected to the Magalies water systems through
metered bulk connections feeding the various water distribution zones via
service reservoirs.
The water supply in
the Municipality is serviced by two main Water Treatment Works in Brits and Schoemansville. The Brits water scheme covers a vast number
of areas with high growth patterns and is constrained by plant conditions and
raw water quality. There are different water supply schemes and Water Services
Providers (Water Boards) to augment water supply in the Municipality.
Madibeng is
categorised as a category B Municipality, functioning through the Executive
Mayoral System, it has an annual budget of R1.6 billion servicing a population
size of 477, 381. The Municipality is both a Water Service Authority and Water
Service Provider and has responsibilities as mandated by the National Water Act
(36 of 1998). As both a water service provider as well as a water service
authority, the Municipality is responsible for the supply of portable water,
collection, treatment and disposal of waterborne sewage within its area of
jurisdiction in a manner that is sustainable, hygienic, environmentally and
socially acceptable
The water supply
schemes implemented by the Municipality are as follows: Brits Water Scheme; Hartebeespoort Water Scheme; North East ODI1 Scheme; West
ODI1 Scheme; Hartebeespoort South and Ward Scheme
Boreholes. The initiatives implemented to boost the water supply and quality in
the Municipal area of supply include: Brits Water Purification Plant
refurbishment and extension; Brits Water Treatment Plant refurbishment; Water
quality with Blue Drop accreditations; Reuse Sewer Effluent; Water supply
shortages Emergency Business Plan; Non revenue water or unaccounted for water;
Water supply augmentation (Drilling of boreholes); Water Supply: Refurbishment
of pumps at Centreville and surrounding areas; Underground water exploration
(drilling of boreholes); water shedding and leak repairs.
Challenges in water
service delivery
There have been a
number of community protests because of service delivery challenges due to
failure or collapse of infrastructure. The Municipality has inherited old and outdated
infrastructure, systems. The bulk supplies capacities are at the helm of
majority challenges experienced in the Municipality. The overarching challenges
are in the main, inadequate bulk supplies and availability, poor raw water
quality, rapid development and urbanisation, old and outdated infrastructure,
mushrooming of informal settlements, land invasions, funding, skills gap and
limited tools of trade.
In respect of the
water and sanitation service delivery challenges, the Municipality has
undertaken the following alternative and contingent measures: supplying water
to communities with trucks; supply of portable Jojo
tanks placed at strategic locations; and optimization of technical and
mechanical processes in the plant.
3. Findings OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
The Portfolio
Committee undertook site visits to the Rietfontein
Waste Water Treatment Plant, Xanadu Estate and Mothotlung Wastewater Treatment Works.
3.1
Rietfontein Waste Water Treatment Plant
3.1.1
Overview of Operations at the Rietfontein Plant
As a Water Services
Authority, the Madibeng Local Municipality is
responsible for the operation and maintenance at the Rietfontein
Waste Water Treatment Works, located at Hartebeespoort.
Rietfontein discharges wastewater into the Swartspruit, which is a smaller stream flowing into the
Crocodile River upstream of the Hartebeespoort Dam.
The spillage of raw sewerage of partially treated sewerage has been reported
since 2010. The spillage at Rietfontein is due to
poor operations and maintenance of pump stations. Not all the 13 pump stations
around the Hartebeespoort Dam is
fully operational, causing major spillages at various pump stations,
manholes and pipelines running close to the dam. The influent to Rietfontein is pumped to the head of the works with no
gravity flow. Two pumped water mains flow into Rietfontein
from the Xanadu and Ifafi
pump stations, which receive sewerage from a number of smaller pump stations
upstream. The pump stations have recently been refurbished by the Department of
Water and Sanitation, but have not formally been handed over to the Municipality.
3.1.2
Challenges faced by the Municipality
3.1.2.1
Sewage spillages at the Rietfontein Plant
One of the challenges
faced by the Municipality is the delayed handover of pump stations by the
Department. Another issue which contributes
to spillage of waste water is that pump stations were vandalised, which in turn
weakened operational systems. This creates uncertainty regarding the
responsibility for their operation and maintenance. A flow balancing facility
will be constructed by the Municipality just before the inlet works to the
plant. The high flow rate experienced during the "burst" of inflow
from the pump stations will be accumulated and discharged under gravity under a
lower rate into the inlet works. This will minimise further sewerage spillages
at the plant.
The Portfolio Committee
observed significant overflow of raw sewerage at the Rietfontein
Water Purification Plant. This impacts negatively on
the surrounding communities. It was
reported that the plant was out of chlorine gas as well, and this is necessary
chemicals to maintain operations at the plant. It was reported that the
chlorine gas chemicals are obtained by the Municipality from manufacturers
through distributers and are used interchangeably throughout the Municipality. The
main chemical manufacturer experienced challenges in the production lines and
high orders and deliveries were delayed as a result. This prompted the Municipality to implement
whatever practical precautionary means at its disposal to contain and manage
the situation. It was reported that contingent measures were employed with the
utilization of both internal staff and external experts to minimize and
eliminate the possible negative impact. There are challenges with regards to
the supply of the chlorine gas. The overflow at Rietfontein Water Purification plant, despite the building
of trenches to mitigate the overflow of raw sewerage from the Rietfontein Water Purification Plant, are still
feeding into the Swartspruit, Crocodile River and Hartebeesport Dam. The sewerage has contaminated water
downstream, resulting in the death of fish population in dams. The algae build
up observed was significant. It was reported that the unsanitary conditions
makes the rivers an ideal breeding ground for the algae. Trenches were dug
around the affected area at Rietfontein to mitigate
the overflow of raw sewerage.
Ongoing vandalism and
theft at Riefontein is a major challenge that the
Municipality has yet to find a solution to, and is indicative of an urgent need
for the Municipality to provide security at the plant.
3.1.2.2
Unaccounted-for Water
It was reported that
the Municipality had one of the highest averages of unaccounted for water. Only
39.4% of the distributed water is billed, and of that, the Madibeng
Local Municipality only receives revenue for 24.7% of the water billed. There
are 25 000 households out of 160 724 households in the Municipality which
are not billed, resulting in an annual loss of revenue of approximately R60
million.
3.1.2.3
Escherichia coli (E. coli) levels in excess of 1 million per 100ml
Reports that the Ecoli levels were not compliant with minimum chemical and
microbiological standards were correct. This contamination is as a result of
the spillage from Rietfontein. The Municipality
reported that challenges experienced with the suppliers contributed towards
this challenge. Although contingent measures were taken to utilise manual
chlorine disinfection, this is not effective as the on line liquid gas chlorine
disinfection system. The Department noted that test result analysis revealed
that there was no Ecoli in the drinking water, and
that the water was safe for consumption, and did not pose any health threats to
water consumers. The communities are
however, not convinced.
3.2
Brits Waste Water Treatment Plant
3.2.1
Non-functioning of Brits Water Treatment Plant and Pumping Station
The Brits Waste Water
Treatment Plant is not functioning optimally due to the inlet works not being
operational as a result of a lack of maintenance. This results in the
non-functioning of the primary setting tank. In the interim, the Municipality
is diverting the flow from the inlet into the reactor. The Department further
assessed and noted that this measure was not sustainable and would ultimately result
in non-compliance challenges. The Municipality reported that the main causes of
pump failures were attributed to vandalism, theft, ageing infrastructure,
ingress of foreign objects and outdated sanitation system designs. It was reported
that to date, sixteen (16) water treatment plants had
been refurbished in Brits, as well as the refurbishment of electromechanical
equipment. The Rapid Response Unit of the Department has been deployed to
assist in addressing this challenge. The Department reported that the combined
effects of ageing infrastructure and maintenance backlog were contributing
factors. The major operational and maintenance shortfalls were caused by a lack
of proper maintenance management system, including the required technical and
managerial skills level. The affected sewer system is quite complex and
requires diligent operational and maintenance inputs as well as refurbishments.
The Department has deployed staff to the Municipality to assist with capacity
and training of staff of the Municipality.
The Department
recommended that there was an urgent need for the Municipality to look into sourcing
standby pumps, so that when the existing pumps fail, they do not end up
polluting the environment. The Municipality needed to relook at engineering of
the water and sanitation supply and optimise planning around development
infrastructure. The Department further found that one of the main issues of
concern was that the life of existing infrastructure could not be extended
through proper maintenance, as the Municipality does not have dedicated
artisans to address this problem. It was reported that R5 million was needed to
refurbish the existing Brits Water Sewerage Plant. The Department has instituted
an emergency measure, which aims to address the operational capacity at the
plant. The current funding from the Department was provided on condition that
the costs would be recovered by the Municipality. Further work is needed to
reach the required standard of equipment, which can support the required level
of sustainable operation. If the Municipality cannot raise adequate revenue to
fund this project, it delays service delivery to communities. There were calls
from the Department that the Municipality needed to revise the cost reflectiveness of their tariffs so as to ascertain the
costs for the Municipality to treat the effluent, and subsequently included it
into a tariff charge to the user.
3.3
Water Contamination at Swartspruit, Crocodile River
and Hartebeespoort Dam
Poor water quality
from the Hartebeespoort Dam has resulted in high
algae bloom. As a result of the bad quality of effluent from Rietfontein, fish kills have been reported in the Xanadu Dam, and wetlands directly
downstream from the plant. There has
been an increase in the algae in the dams and wetlands at Xanadu
and into the Crocodile River, which is feeding off the contaminated
zooplankton. The sewer plant is fed with two main pump stations, and there is
no temporary storage facility, which can then discharge simultaneously into the
plant. Due to plant capacity and design deficiencies, spillages occur and the
temporary arrangement could not accommodate the extent of the inflows. Plans
for refurbishment include the construction of a buffer facility to curb future
spillages.
3.4
Water Service Challenges in Mothutlung
Recent service delivery protests in the Mothutlung area are due to water supply interruptions as a
result of the failure of water supply pumps at the water plant, and the need to
undertake urgent repairs. During the
service delivery protests in January 2014, the Mothutlung
Water Treatment plant was vandalised, which resulted in blockages in the sewer
network connecting the Mothutlung which led to seweage spillages. The repairs at the Mothulung
Water Service Station have been impeded by vandalism and theft which has
resulted in delays in the resumption of services. It was reported that the Mothotlung
Waste Water Treatment Works discharges directly into the Crocodile River. Whilst
Rietfontein and Brits use advanced technology, Lethlabile and Mothutlung use the
old Pond Enhanced Trickling System. There is one pump station at Mothutlung and the refurbishment at the treatment plant, is
ongoing.
4.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Whilst the Portfolio
Committee on Water and Sanitation is highly concerned about the water and
sanitation challenges at the Madibeng Local
Municipality, it recognised that the symptomatic challenges of water and
sanitation in the country, include, amongst others,
the following:
·
Vandalism and theft of water and sanitation
infrastructure;
·
Maintenance of infrastructure;
·
Unaccounted-for Water;
·
Further progress and intervention in water
services supply and delivery;
·
Water quality (Contamination of water
resources);
·
Strengthening intergovernmental relations to
address water and sanitation issues;
·
Importance of community participation in
projects to ensure ‘buy in’ funding of water services;
·
Poor Revenue Collection;
·
Poor Leadership; and
·
Lack of Capacity within the Municipality
The Portfolio
Committee, during its deliberations of the findings and assessments of site
visits at the Madibeng Local Municipality, concludes
that the above issues require further interrogation and therefore recommends
the following on issues raised above:
·
Vandalism
and theft of water and sanitation infrastructure
The Portfolio
Committee noted that vandalism and theft of water supply infrastructure was not
only an increasing problem in the Madibeng Local
Municipality, but was emerging as a recurrent challenge in the entire
country.
This not only
impacted on the basic rights of access to quality water to citizens, but also
had negative economic implications as money intended to build new
infrastructure and maintain existing ones is diverted to replace stolen
infrastructure. The Portfolio Committee
is of the view that the problem is a societal one that requires a collaborative
effort by everyone in order to deal effectively with this matter. The Portfolio Committee also noted that the
challenges are further compounded by metal recycling businesses that continue
to buy stolen metals and cables from the perpetrators of these crimes. The Portfolio Committee recommended that all
institutions, such as the Department of Water and Sanitation, the South African
Police Services, Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs,
Department of Justice, Municipalities as well communities collaborate to come
up with effective strategies to deal with the problem in its entirety. The Portfolio Committee, as a way forward, requests
the support of the department and relevant municipalities during the public
hearings on vandalism and theft of water infrastructure in November 2014.
·
Maintenance
of infrastructure
Within Madibeng, the Portfolio Committee noted and appreciated
various infrastructure projects underway, such as the R63.7
million Wastewater Infrastructure Refurbishment Project, as well as
refurbishment of water supply pumps at various areas. The Portfolio Committee noted the few
challenges that remained that required further action. The Portfolio Committee
is of the view that while these infrastructure projects are necessary, the
maintenance of the infrastructure remains a challenge, and requires serious
intervention at all levels of implementation.
Of importance to the continuing oversight is the tracking of progress of
the upgrade of pump stations at the Rietfontein
Sewage Plant, with a commitment made by the Madibeng
Local Municipality that this would be resolved within a three-month deadline.
The Portfolio Committee resolved that the deadline should be adhered to.
·
Further
progress and intervention in water services supply and delivery
The Portfolio
Committee noted progress in terms of water services and the recognition by the
Municipality of supplying water services to communities as a number one
priority, which is detailed in its Integrated Development Plan. The Portfolio
Committee urges the provincial and national department of water and sanitation
to ‘ramp’ up their interventions.
·
Unaccounted-for
water
The Portfolio Committee
is further concerned by information that up to 75 per cent of the
municipality’s water is unaccounted-for due to leakages and unmetered
households, while the average for the country is around 35 per cent.
·
Water
quality
While the Blue Drop
score for the municipality has improved, there needs to be much work in
ensuring that the quality of water provided to the people of the area are of
the highest standards.
·
Strengthening
intergovernmental relations to address water and sanitation issues
A critical point made
by the Portfolio Committee was that in there is a need to address
intergovernmental relations to address water and sanitation issues. Another
critical key concept lacking in South Africa is that of value-based leadership.
·
Importance
of community participation in projects to ensure ‘buy in’
In engaging with
members of the community in Ward 18, in
Mothuleng, the Portfolio Committee noted the
challenge of lack of communication between community members and councillors on
issues of demarcation, budget constraints, and the lack of consultation on
integrated development plans, as well as risks and challenges identified by the
community itself. This resulted in ‘resentment and accusations’ of corruption
in the way in which unilateral decisions are made, which exclude community
members from decision-making processes. The Portfolio Committee requests a
progress report on the steps taken by relevant authorities to improve
communication on the above matters to the affected communities.
·
Funding
for water services
The Portfolio Committee
noted that there is a need for improved funding for water services in order to
improve water services delivery.
·
Poor revenue
collection
The Portfolio Committee
noted that there is a need for improvement in collection of revenue from the
provided water services.
·
Poor leadership
The Portfolio Committee
noted that many challenges emanated from poor leadership at the local
municipality and recommended that the Department supports the Council in this
regard.
·
Lack of capacity
The Portfolio Committee
noted that there is a serious lack of capacity at the municipality in terms of
operation and maintenance of the water services infrastructure. It is therefore
recommended that the Department should in the meantime provide technical
assistance to the municipality.
Report
to be considered.