WATCH | Ramaphosa: Rooiwal water treatment plant a ‘sorry site’

The dilapidated Rooiwal water treatment plant is a “sorry site” and not in a condition that would give anyone confidence there is good water cleaning occurring.

These were the views expressed by President Cyril Ramaphosa when he conducted a walkabout at the plant on Thursday during his visit to Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, during the cholera outbreak. 

Ramaphosa, who apologised to residents who had gathered at the Temba stadium, said the plant was built in the 1950s and has not been properly maintained. 

“I have seen it. The pipes have rusted and where the water should get in and be cleaned, the machines are not working properly. It is visible the problems are many,” he told residents.

Ramaphosa, who appeared to point the cause of a more than a decade old problem at Tshwane municipality, said he was briefed there was a tender executed to the level of 68% and then cancelled.

He said the evidence was there for anyone to see and the problem started many years ago with the national department of water and sanitation on several occasions raising the water challenges in Tshwane.

“They even went beyond writing letters to take them to court because water is the competence of local government and they [municipality] did not do what they were meant to do. In many ways, that's why we are where we are today and it has to do with governance,” he said.

Ramaphosa said if proper governance procedures were executed, particularly  inter government processes of good co-operation between national, provincial and local government, the water situation in Tshwane would have been solved.

According to him, the municipality didn’t allocate a sizeable budget to maintain the waterworks and expand it while the population in Tshwane has been growing.

“The capacity of the Rooiwal water works has been shrinking so they needed to have invested and there were tender problems.

“The other problem is technical. I did not see good technical proficiency at the waterworks and also the human capital aspects. A huge waterworks which covers a footprint of 200 hectares which doesn't have an engineer is a recipe for failure,” he said.

Ramaphosa was accompanied by ministers and deputy ministers, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi and Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink. 

The cause of the cholera outbreak has not yet been established but residents have told TimesLIVE they believe it is linked to their long struggle with poor quality water due to problems with waste treatment.

“We have really dropped the ball for our people here in Tshwane and I went on to admit that but also look at what needs to be done,” Ramaphosa said.

He said water and sanitation minister Senzo Mchunu, cooperative governance and traditional affairs minster Thembi Nkadimeng, the minister of human settlements, Gauteng government and the municipality have come up with a sizeable project.

The R4bn project to revamp and expand the Rooiwal water treatment plant and address the water problem in Hammanskraal will take three years. It will be led by the Development Bank of Southern Africa.

Ramaphosa said in the intervening period they will distribute clean water through tanks while Magalies Water construct a “package water system” that will deliver water.

“ I am expecting  we work to a level where they will increase efficiency, they will increase capacity and they will deploy the right people to do the work.

“We have assured the people here that we will get clean water and it is going to start immediately,” he said.

Some residents believe the president's visit to the area was part of his day-to-day job and were hopeful the problem would be solved.

Resident Tidimatso Molati, chairperson of the Thusa Setshaba Forum), said he was disappointed.

“The issue of addressing water, we are saying please anything to do with water rights, anything to do with water issues, let us have all the necessary expertise and move with urgency to address that,” said Molati.   

Tshepo Mosimanegape, 40, said the issue of water was long overdue. He said the president apologising when there was no tangible change with ageing infrastructure was a wasted opportunity.   

“I can come as the head of state and say, 'people of this community I am very sorry for the lack of water,' but what are you doing on the ground? That is a critical question which we should be asking,” he said.

TimesLIVE

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