Honourable Member, it is important to distinguish the functions of various government departments and the different spheres of government when it comes to access to water and sanitation services.
1. Phase 1 of the Driefontein Scheme was implemented by uThukela District Municipality and is now complete, whilePhase 2 is in progress. Phase 3 (i.e. Spioenkop-Ladysmith Scheme) consists of both economic and social components and requires contributions from beneficiaries of the project who are able to pay for services. As the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) does not cover costs pertaining to the economic component, the municipality had to come up with about R1 billion co-funding.
The municipality entered into negotiations with Umgeni Water with the aim to secure assistance with co-funding and the implementation of the project. After conducting due diligence, Umgeni Water decided to conduct further detailed feasibility studies on the project. To this end, Umgeni Water has appointed a professional service provider to undertake the pre-feasibility study. The detailed feasibility study of the uThukela DM Regional Bulk Water Supply Scheme (uTDM RBWSS) will include:
(a) The total costs for the project can only be determined once the detailed feasibility study has been concluded because the information required to calculate costs will be obtained from the outcomes of the study.
(b-c) The funding allocations and the source of funding will be determined from information generated during the implementation readiness study. The implementation readiness study is dependent on conclusion of the detailed feasibility study will be determined once the total costs have been determined.
(d-g) The information on the proposed period of construction, including completion dates of a bulk raw water pipeline and the source of raw water and proposals for the filtration of the bulk raw water can only be determined once the detailed feasibility study has been concluded.
(2) The expenditure on water distribution infrastructure from inception up to 31 January 2021 is R102 400 021.
(3) The sources for the bulk distribution network are nine (9) production boreholes. The boreholes are being used as an interim source until long-term sustainable bulk water resource has been developed.
(4) The Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant allocations given to the Driefontein Water Complex Project since the 2010-11 financial year are as follows:
Financial year |
Allocations |
2010/11 |
R 11 470 200 |
2011/12 |
R 22 302 100 |
2012/13 |
R 16 308 355 |
2013/14 |
R 56 726 749 |
2014/15 |
R 80 977 114 |
2015/16 |
R 20 801 030 |
2016/17 |
R 64 000 000 |
2017/18 |
R 28 000 000 |
2018/19 |
R 45 000 000 |
2019/20 |
R 10 000 000 |
2020/21 |
R 39 399 000 |
Total |
R394 984 548 |