The municipal spokesperson, Sello Matsie, says millions are being spent to make sure that residents are able to receive quality and basic services despite the challenges of old infrastructure. Matsie said the Sol Plaatje Municipality had previously delayed connecting sewerage networks because the Homevale Wastewater Treatment Works had already reached its maximum capacity.

Matsie, however, said that the municipality had to upgrade the Homevale Wastewater Treatment Works, which was also being overloaded as it reached its maximum capacity after more houses were built.

“The pumps from Riverton, where we extract and purify water, were also old. We can tell you that we built a new pump at the station, to pump water to Kimberley. Sometimes those old pipes would give in, then we would not be able to pump water to Kimberley, but as part of development for the future, we have now created an outlet for a 1500 mm pipe. When money is available, we will be able to connect a pipeline there for about 30km from Riverton to Kimberley. We were proactive in some of these things. We took a loan from DBSA which I think has paid for the upgrading of the infrastructure,” said Matsie.

Meanwhile, OFM News reported that the Executive Mayor, Solomon Mabilo, recently conducted a walkabout in the Central Business District area to ascertain the cleanliness of the inner city. The purpose of the site visit was to ensure that service delivery is maintained, and that included the cleaning of streets and dumping hotspots, fixing of potholes, repairing paved sidewalks, sealing potholes, and addressing water leaks, and sewage spillages.

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi