Tshwane Municipality makes first payment of R150m towards fixing Rooiwal plant
The plant is responsible for providing water to areas in Pretoria North, including Hammanskraal, where the tap water is not safe for human consumption.
Rooiwal waste water treatment plant. Picture: X/@tshwane_mayor
JOHANNESBURG - The Tshwane Municipality has made the first payment of R150 million towards fixing the dysfunctional Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant.
The plant is responsible for providing water to areas in Pretoria North, including Hammanskraal, where the tap water is not safe for human consumption.
It has been over a year now since the capital city declared the water in Hammankraal unsafe to drink following a cholera outbreak that killed more than 20 people.
The full rehabilitation of the Rooiwal plant is estimated to cost R4 billion.
A majority of the cost will be shouldered by National Treasury, with the Tshwane Municipality only responsible for R450 million.
Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink said that the municipality has paid the first tranche which went towards a settling tank, cameras and fencing of the plant.
"DBSA [Development Bank of South Africa, which is the implementing agent of this project] is on site, sub-contractors are on site and our first real deliverable is to see how we improve the effluent coming out of that plant into the Apies River as soon as possible."
Meanwhile, the city is hoping the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) will be able to recoup the money it lost to Edwin Sodi and his business associates in a previous botched tender to upgrade Rooiwal.