Central SA
R3.4 Billion intervention to address water and sanitation in Matjhabeng─── KEKELETSO MOSEBETSI 10:15 Sun, 20 Apr 2025
The Welkom-based Matjhabeng Municipality in the Free State has received a much-needed lifeline with the allocation of more than R3.4 billion to address its water and sanitation crisis.
The municipality has been facing mounting challenges due to decades of neglect, including non-functional water treatment plants, sewage spillages, and widespread water shortages that have placed the health of residents at serious risk.
During a recent media briefing following his return to office, Matjhabeng mayor Thanduxolo Khalipha identified infrastructure rehabilitation as the municipality’s top priority. “Road, water, and sanitation infrastructure is the municipality’s top priority to fix and improve so that the city can attract investors,” Khalipha stated.
He emphasised that the funding was the result of urgent appeals to the national government, with support from both the former and current Ministers of Water and Sanitation.
“We are also going to focus on issues of sewage spillages and sanitation in our municipality, which our own people have been complaining about. You know that former Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, and the new Water and Sanitation Minister, Pemmy Majodin, through the intervention we requested national government to intervene to declare this municipality a disaster.
“We have been able to get that intervention of more than R3.4 billion,” Khalipha said.
According to Khalipha, over R1 billion of the allocated funds has already been spent in the current financial year. He reported significant progress, including the completion of several pump stations and sewage treatment plants.
He said members of the media would soon be invited to witness these developments during a roadshow.
Khalipha also stated that Matjhabeng plans to procure two trucks to assist in addressing the ongoing sewage spillage challenges. He said the municipality will also engage in strategic discussions with the Vaal Central Water Board, aiming for the full completion of all pump and water treatment facilities by 2026.
Last year, the Department of Water and Sanitation had urged the National Treasury to withhold the municipality’s grant funding due to violations of the Municipal Financial Management Act. A letter from Director-General Sean Phillips to Treasury’s Director-General Duncan Pieterse highlighted Matjhabeng’s substantial unpaid debt to the Vaal Central Water Board.
The water board, which supplies bulk water to multiple municipalities, was reportedly on the brink of collapse, owed over R6 billion by Matjhabeng alone.
