Cape Town - As South Africa hurtles towards a water insecurity risk, the Water and Sanitation Department has said that 11 of its 14 large water projects across all provinces are behind schedule.
This was revealed by Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu in Parliamentary replies.
IFP member Sbuyiselwe Buthelezi had asked him for the total number of large water projects currently running in each province; whether projects were still undergoing planning and were under construction; and the number of projects that are currently behind schedule and how far behind schedule each project is.
“The department currently has 14 large water projects running across different provinces across the country,” Mchunu said.
“Ten infrastructure projects are under planning, while four are under construction. In terms of progress, 11 projects are behind schedule,” the minister conceded.
Water is unevenly distributed in the country and this means millions are already consuming water captured in reservoirs that are more than 400km away from destinations. Also, climate change had worsened this water insecurity risk, according to Greenpeace.
The department is working on raising the walls of the Clanwilliam Dam and the Berg River-Voëlvlei augmentation scheme. Mchunu said the Clanwilliam dam project is behind by three years, while the Berg River-Voëlvlei project is behind by six months.
The Cape Argus quoted Mchunu as saying in September that delays in the Clanwilliam Dam project have cost his department an extra R676 million. He had also extended the dam’s completion by another six years, he said.
Former water and sanitation minister Nomvula Mokonyane in July, 2014 told MPs that the Clanwilliam project would cost R1.8 billion.