Minister’s plan to end drought

GIYANI: RESORTING TO SOLAR TECHNOLOGY FOR WATER

Gugile wants sand in rivers tested to see if there’s water underground.

Water and Sanitation Minister Gugile Nkwinti now plans to use solar technology to bring water to the drought-stricken town of Giyani in Limpopo amid the continuing payment tussle between service providers and his department.

Nkwinti made the announcement over the weekend to the Limpopo Cooperative Governance, Housing and Traditional Affairs MEC Jerry Ndou, Mopani District Municipality’s Mayor, Nkakareng Rakgoale, the business forum and the local traditional leadership in Giyani.

“We have planned to call reputable service providers to test the sand in the town’s local rivers and see if there is water available underground,” said Nkwinti.

He said if the test become positive, the department will appoint a service provider to use the latest solar technology that would draw water from the rivers to the thirsty community of Giyani.

Giyani was declared a disaster area in 2009. Several companies, including a joint venture by Tlong Re-Yeng were previously appointed by the government to address the water situation in Giyani, but failed.

The latest is Khato Civils, which pulled out of the multi-million project after the same department failed to pay them a service fee of R44 million. The company argued that it took more than nine months for the department to pay their four invoices, amounting to over R170 million. This, according to Khato Civils’s Chief Executive Mongezi Mnyani was in-spite the fact that their work had been checked and confirmed by the engineers from the department and Lepelle Northern Water.

Dubbed The Giyani Emergency Intervention Water project, the project was initiated by former president Jacob Zuma and commissioned by Mokonyane at the tune of R502 million in 2014. But the scope work on the project was later ballooned without following legal supply chain management policies. This saw the budget of the project also ballooning from R502 to R3.5 billion. The move, however, attracted the attention of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which probed the project from allegations of irregularities.

Investigations by the SIU had been completed and have revealed that the Lepelle Northern Water, which was responsible for the appointment of the service provider deliver the project, had contravened Supply-Chain Management processes.

During Nkwinti’s visit on Friday, the CEO for the Lepelle Northern Water, Phineas Legodi said Lepelle could not follow a normal bidding process during the appointment of the service provider because of the emergency directives from the department. –

Giyani was declared a disaster area in 2009