Mooihoek Water Treatment Works Project fails to deliver

FETAKGOMO TUBATSE – Residents of various areas in the Fetakgomo Tubatse Local Municipality (FTLM), say they are continuing facing a severe water crisis due to the incomplete Mooihoek Water Treatment Works Project.

The project, initiated in January 2020, was meant to provide 10 megaliters of potable water per day to villages including Mashamothane, Bothashoek, Praktiseer, Ga-Motodi, Ga-Maroga, Dresden, and Burgersfort Town.

Despite claims of 89% completion in September 2021, the project remains unfinished, leaving residents to fend for themselves.

The affected communities say they are forced to fetch water from nearby rivers and streams or buy from borehole owners, highlighting the project’s failure to deliver.

Residents say when they question Sekhukhune District Municipality (SDM), the implementing agent of the project, they are told the project is complete and functional. Residents dispute this, saying they still lack access to clean water.

The community added that the incomplete project facilities, dubbed “White Elephants,” are now deemed as fruitless and wasteful, as the facilities are not operational.

Residents say the project’s delays raise questions about accountability and the efficient use of funds and are now demanding answers and action to address the water crisis in their area.

Rosina Maroga, a resident of Ga-Maroga Village, expressed her frustration over the lack of access to clean drinking water in the area.

“Ever since the project was handed over, we never tasted a drop of water from it. We have been waiting for years, and it is like nothing has changed,” Maroga said, visibly frustrated as she walked back to her home after fetching drinking water from a nearby stream.

The SDM could not respond to the publication’s enquiries at the time of going to press.