MATJHABENG LOCAL MUNICIPALITY SEWAGE PROJECTS NEARING COMPLETION
Matjhabeng Local Municipality has been grappling with sewer spillages for a long time and the Department of Water and Sanitation intervened following a Ministerial directive to assist the municipality. The Department worked with the municipality to refurbish and upgrade Thabong and Kutlwanong Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) and the pump stations, in order to address the problem of sewer spillages.
The scope of work regarding the refurbishment projects in Matjhabeng Local Municipality area included pump station refurbishment, sewer unblocking, and wastewater treatment works refurbishment.
Nine (9) wastewater treatment works and forty two (42) non-functional sewer pump stations were refurbished and upgraded, and sewer network lines consisting of approximately 400km outfall lines and chambers with a total distance of 1543 km were unblocked.
Both Thabong and Kutlwanong WWTW’s are nearing completion with both projects reaching a progress above 98%. 19 pump station including Bronville North, Bronville South, Rheederspark and Akasia have been completed and handed over to Matjhabeng LM to operate.
Although the projects are almost complete, there is a problem of electricity connection to the upgraded projects. The problems are caused by vandalism of electricity infrastructure in Matjhabeng local municipality, as well as with delays of payment by the municipality to Eskom. The municipality is in consultation with Eskom and will hopefully come to an agreement that will see Matjhabeng community benefiting from the refurbished infrastructure.
The two WWTW Thabong and Kutwanong are equipped with generators however the delay in electrical connection could have detrimental delays in terms of getting the plants fully operational. Running Thabong WWTW on generators alone is estimated at a 2 Million monthly cost to the municipality. The municipality has assured the committee that competent plant operators will be hired to run the plant and security has also been ramped up to prevent vandalism especially during the contractors break.
With the contractors break beckoning and set at 15 December 2025 all stakeholders have been working relentlessly to make sure that projects reach practical completion.
By Larry Crisp, Communications Manager, Department of Water and Sanitation Free State
