The Mopani District Municipality in Limpopo is to spend R103 million on upgrading water and sanitation services this year, with projects already underway in all the five local municipalities in the district, reports Neville Maakana of Bua News, the South African government's information service.
"We are committed to providing all communities in the district with clean water and decent sanitation by 2010," said municipal spokesperson Tumelo Malaka on March 31. He said the projects are being implemented with assistance from the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the department of water affairs and forestry and the department of provincial and local government.
Mopani executive mayor Humphrey Mokgobi announced the projects during his state of the district address earlier this year. The projects include the construction of a new sewerage system in Modjadjiskloof and the installation of bulk water pipelines in Mamaila village in the Greater Letaba Municipality
Between 2000 and 2007, the district has spent about R371 million on water infrastructure, resulting in more than 60 percent of the estimated million residents having access to a water supply. Mopani has five local municipalities namely Greater Tzaneen, Ba-Phalaborwa, Greater Letaba, Greater Giyani and Maruleng.
The Letaba, Giyani and Maruleng municipalities are receiving assistance through national government's capacity building initiative, the Siyenza Manje programme which means "we are doing it now". The Development Bank of Southern Africa has been allocated R741 million by the national treasury over a three-year period to build capacity in 136 municipalities, which were placed under Project Consolidate in 2004.
BuaNews
