Solution to Vaal River pollution on the cards

Taking the first step towards solving the longstanding problem of sewer pollution in the Vaal River, R911 million has been allocated towards the 2020/21 financial year.
“A total investment by the department in the 2020/21 financial year is R1.2 billion for work that includes the building of additional wastewater treatment capacity and associated pump stations,” the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) said in a statement.
The DWS recently settled on what needs to be done to solve the issues and decided that 26 work packages looking for competent contractors to help solve the problem will be advertised in the coming weeks.
“This means that the appointed contractors will be on the ground during festive season. Provided there are no community protests leading to work stoppages, and these have become more frequent in recent times, the department plans to launch module 6 in Sebokeng Water Care Works before the end of current financial year,“ said the DWS on Friday.
The department added that all the necessary steps are being taken to comply with the conditions of Section 217 of the Constitution.
“In this regard, departmental checks and balances had to be followed to the letter to ensure compliance with procurement processes. This thoroughness on the part of the department caused delays but was necessary to ensure processes were done in a completely honest and straightforward manner.
“The process of advertising for competent contractors is at its final stages and adverts will be in the government gazette soon. The start and completion dates of the project will be communicated to all interested stakeholders once the contractors have been appointed as the department cannot pre-empt this before the appointments have been made.”
On Monday, the Departmental Acting Director-General Trevor Balzer and his team met with stakeholders to strengthen the broad programme and ensure its success.