DWS portfolio chairperson asked to intervene in Vhembe water crisis

Date: 08 August 2024 By: Andries van Zyl

The ongoing water crisis in Louis Trichardt and the surrounding areas will hopefully soon receive attention at the highest level after Louis Trichardt Democratic Alliance ward councillor Pierre Smalle decided to bring the matter directly to the attention of Mr Leon Basson, the Department of Water Affairs portfolio chairperson in the National Assembly.

Continued water shortages due to breakdowns and a lack of service delivery from the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM), the regional water authority, have left residents at their wits' end.

In a letter written to Basson on Tuesday to update him on the situation, Smalle stated that large areas of Louis Trichardt had been without water for five weeks now. Other areas have been without water for even longer. The last official update from VDM about the crisis was on 31 July when they notified residents of the sudden shutdown of the water supply to Louis Trichardt and Tshikota.

According to Smalle, the current issues include the fact that the Albasini raw water plant, the main water supplier to Louis Trichardt, is currently pumping at less than half of its capacity. “Several leaks have been reported on the pipeline, with the main three leaks reported to be at the raw water plant itself, between Beja and farm Takala, and at booster pump station 3,” Smalle stated, adding that the booster pump stations were not fully operational, and few or no backup motors were functioning.

Smalle also highlighted the fact that there were 13 boreholes scheduled to be pumping water into the water supply system by this year, but only two are currently operating. “This alone was a R40-million plus expenditure. If fully operational, it can supply the town [Louis Trichardt] with more water than the Albasini line at full capacity,” Smalle told Basson.

Smalle also highlighted the fact that little to no communication is received from VDM. “Vhembe also does not always have the necessary materials to do maintenance on water infrastructure,” Smalle stated.

So, is there any light at the end of the tunnel? According to Smalle, the Albasini raw water plant can be connected to the new Nandoni pipeline and Louis Trichardt can receive water from Albasini if the work on the short stretch of pipeline is fast-tracked.

Smalle said on Wednesday morning that, in a worst-case scenario, he hoped his letter to Basson would end up on the Director General (DG) of Water Affairs' desk for the DG to hold VDM accountable for the crisis. As for the best-case scenario, Smalle said he hoped to pressure the portfolio committee to also hold VDM accountable and visit Vhembe for inspections to see why the crisis could not be resolved. Smalle said that Basson had confirmed receipt of his letter.

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Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

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