By: Natasha Archary

It will cost R4 billion to get clean water to residents in Hammanskraal by March 2024, as a refurbishment of the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works is required.
This according to the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu who says the project will take 3-years to complete if all goes as planned.
Deputy Director General at the Department of Water and Sanitation Risimati Mathye spoke to Phemelo Motene on Point of View about the possibility of a mobile water treatment plant for the people of Hammanskraal
In a media briefing on Thursday, 01 June, Mchunu, together with City of Tshwane Mayor, Cilliers Brink shared that the water from the Rooiwal plant is polluted to the point that it cannot be treated.
The Minister said that because the Rooiwal plant is over-capacitated, it’s releasing waste into the Leeuwkraal Dam, which is a source for the Temba water treatment plant that supplies water to Hammanskraal.
Mchunu says several reports have led to the conclusion that this is how the cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal started.
After consultation, Director-General of Water and Sanitation, Sean Phillips said because the project is so extensive, it would need to be actioned in 3 stages, starting this year, with the aim to complete the project by 2026.
Meanwhile, Brink shared that the budget for the project was approved on Thursday, and the City of Tshwane will put forward the first R450 million towards the project which will start in September 2023.
“There will be no more Edwin Sodi allegations because we must make sure that the public money is spent in a way that is cost-effective and competitive.
And of course, we need to ensure that no person or company implicated in State Capture is allowed to come close to this money, which would just derail this project.”
City of Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink
Brink’s comments regarding Sodi are in relation to the businessman being accused of a R100 million Free State toilet tender scandal.
Meanwhile, residents of Hammanskraal will have to rely on the Department of Water and Sanitation to supply drinking water to the community from tanks until a portable water treatment plant is installed.
[WATCH] No company or persons implicated in corruption and state capture must be allowed to come close to Rooiwal upgrade project money. #Hammanskraal pic.twitter.com/IM66fFpHA9
— Cilliers Brink (@CilliersB) June 1, 2023
Also read: Cholera Outbreak: Health Minister says no new deaths in the past 7-days



