Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu has committed to ensure that Operation Bulela Metsi meets its obligations to the people of Dinokana, in the North West, and ultimately the whole province.

Operation Bulela Metsi is a water and sanitation intervention programme, which was introduced by Mchunu and the North West provincial government in July.

The programme is a culmination of a series of intergovernmental engagements among the three spheres of government, including business, traditional leaders and community structures on the water and sanitation challenges faced by the province.

The Minister was speaking at the sod-turning of the R106-million Dinokana Water Supply Intervention Project, which was implemented by Magalies Water, in Ramotshere Moiloa local municipality.

The Dinokana project is one of the 27 water and sanitation projects under Operation Bulela Metsi that were unlocked and reprioritised after intergovernmental interventions earlier this year.

Mchunu conducted an oversight visit to the construction sites of the water project ahead of a meeting with the community of Dinokana.

He said that, through intergovernmental structures set up in the province and the constitutional mandate of each institution, the programme will ensure that every household has access to water through a standpipe. He added that people need to be patient as the project is being implemented in phases.

The project scope entails the refurbishment and upgrade of the Dinokana rural water supply infrastructure, which includes high lift pump refurbishment and upgrade from two-million litres a day to four-million litres a day; refurbishment of boreholes; upgrading of the spring water pump station and pipeline; refurbishment of the distribution system up to the bulk water reservoirs, and constructing an additional two-million-litre reservoir to provide additional gravity pressure.

Mchunu commended the progress made, saying that water will eventually reach everyone who needs to benefit from the project.

“We are now here to point to the work that is currently being carried out. Refurbishing the pump station is critical so that all the pumps are working optimally in order to pump the required quantities, and be able to meet the demand of these communities in the four wards,” Mchunu said.

Over 1 000 m of bulk pipeline have already been laid, and work on the refurbishment and the bulk distribution network has also started.

Mchunu was accompanied by his deputy Judith Tshabalala, North West Premier Bushy Maape, Ngaka Modiri Molema district municipality Mayor Khumalo Molefe, Ramotshere Moiloa local municipal Mayor Dinah Pitso, Magalies Water Board chairperson Dr Lydia Sebego, as well as local chiefs.

Addressing Ramotshere Moiloa residents, Mchunu said 27 water and sanitation projects under Operation Bulela Metsi are currently under way throughout the North West province, with the Dinokana project being among them.

The Dinokana Water Supply Intervention project is being implemented in four phases.

The first phase involves bulk pipeline distribution construction, including reservoir and refurbishment to existing transmission lines while the second phase includes the refurbishment of boreholes and additional drilling and equipping of boreholes.

The third phase involves the reticulation and standpipe at 200 m radial distance within the village boundary. 

The final phase involves upgrading the pumpstation and pumping line to allow both reservoirs to be fed by pump station. The objective is to provide an additional 35 000 residents with standpipes.

Mchunu said, with the current 17 local people benefiting through the Dinokana water supply intervention project, five more job opportunities will be added in future to benefit 25 locals a ward. 

The Dinokana project, which started on September 30, 2023, is expected to be completed on September 30, 2024.

The Minister encouraged locals with illegal water connections to report to the local mayor to be legally connected for free, so that they will not face the wrath of the law. He further called on the community to safeguard the infrastructure, warning that connecting water illegally damages the pipes.