WORK AT R20bn KEY WATER PROJECT SET TO TAKE OFF
Three huge ventures to unlock economic opportunities for EC
A R20bn water project at Umzimvubu that will create hundreds of jobs in the Eastern Cape will start in earnest later this month.
Economic affairs MEC Oscar Mabuyane made the announcement on Sunday, while also saying: “More work would be done in the new financial year, which starts in April.”
He said the project, along with the oil refinery project dubbed Umthombo, as well as the construction of the N2 Wild Coast road, were key to unlocking “great economic opportunities for the people of this province this year”.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his presentation of the ANC’s election manifesto in Durban on Saturday, made an undertaking that the water catchment project would be rolled out in earnest in the next term of office, which will start after this year’s general election.
“We are aware that as early as this month preliminary work will be done in Umzimvubu.
“We are expecting that in the new financial year more developments will really take off.
“There is commitment that work will be started as early as later this month,” said Mabuyane in an interview with the Dispatch.
The project is under the control of the national department of water and sanitation and entails the construction of two multipurpose dams – the Ntabelanga and Laleni dams – on the Tsitsa River, a tributary of the Umzimvubu.
The project will provide water for irrigation, homes and industries, as well as a hydroelectric power station in the catchment areas.
The Umzimvubu catchment and river system stretches over 200km from its source in the Maluti and Drakensberg moun- tain watersheds on the escarpment to Port St Johns.
It is estimated that more than 6,000 jobs will be created during the construction phase, while 3,000 more permanent jobs per annum will be created post-construction through irrigation projects.
There have been some disagreements about who should finance the Umzimvubu project. The Dispatch reported last year that premier Phumulo Masualle said there had been an offer from China but a grey area persists over the terms involved.
Mabuyane said: “We are quite happy about the president’s announcement to prioritise Umzimvubu. The N2 highway project has already taken off.
“We are also looking into project Umthombo because these are three catalytic projects.
“If they are implemented in full, they will definitely change the economic face of the Eastern Cape.”
Umthombo, PetroSA’s flagship project, is the country’s solution to reduce imports and produce refined oil products locally. The refinery will be located in Coega IDZ and designed to process medium- to high-sulphur crude oils to minimise costs.
The progress in these mega projects is good news for the province as statistics released by the Quarterly Labour Force Survey show that the unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage points to 27.5% in the third quarter (July to September) compared to 27.2% in the second quarter of 2018.
Of deep concern was that while there were job gains in seven of the nine provinces, the Eastern Cape and Free State experienced job losses.
Mabuyane said: “We need these projects to enhance economic development in our province such that the Eastern Cape can contribute to the GDP of the country.”
Work on the N2 Wild Coast project is ongoing. The project has two flagship bridges, crossing the Msikaba and Mtentu rivers about halfway between Port St Johns and Port Edward. Sanral awarded tenders for the construction of both bridges last August worth R3.3bn.
“This [Umzimvubu, N2 Road and Mthombo] coupled with the agro-processing economy, tourism and the new oceans [policy] will help change fortunes for the people of the Eastern Cape. If we are able to do the right thing and have national, along with provincial and local spheres working together, we should be able to turn around the situations, particularly in the next five years and make our people’s lives better,” he said.
We are quite happy about the president’s announcement to prioritise Umzimvubu