Sedibeng Water was appointed by the Ministry of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation in February 2020 to oversee the Drought Relief and Covid-19 Intervention Projects in Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality (MAP LM). The primary mandate for the implementation of the ministerial intervention included the following:

Provision of 2000 Water Tanks for temporary relief and access to clean water for residents and communities in distress;

Rehabilitation and equipping of boreholes for the harvesting of groundwater for provision of clean water for distressed communities;

Rehabilitation and maintenance of the current water infrastructure for optimal functionality for provision of access to clean water;

Technical support for the construction of new water infrastructure for the connection of water access to communities that were not part of the bulk water system;

Community Engagement and Social Facilitation intervention for communication, water provision satisfaction survey, stakeholder consultation, conflict resolution and creation of employment opportunities for local small business entities and communities;

As part of its implementation strategy, Sedibeng Water established a Technical Project Monitoring Committee to oversee the progress of the implementation of the drought relief and Covid-19 intervention project. The Technical Project Monitoring Committee submits daily and weekly project progress reports to the Free State Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS). Additionally, weekly and monthly reports are submitted to the Ministry and Department of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation. 

Sedibeng Water has also established formal relationships with the Office of the Executive Mayor, MMC for Infrastructure Development as well as the Members of the Mayoral Committee of Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality for the smooth running of the consultation and implementation of the intervention projects. 

Sedibeng Water has appointed contractors to provide services to expedite the implementation of the drought relief projects. As part of the 30% local beneficiation guidelines, Osher Fuels has directly sub-contracted the various community-based entities to assist with the (1) distribution of water tanks and (2) construction of stands for the placement and installation of the water tanks. 

The water tanks are distributed by members of the community who owns a van or truck and they are compensated a fixed amount for transportation per tank and/or load. This approach has created jobs for the local community members. The placement and installation of the water tanks is verified through GPS coordinates and entry into the asset register which are available on request for accountability. 

The construction of stands have been sub-contracted to about 35 local small business enterprises In certain instances, the opportunity to build stands is sourced out to Ward Committees to use members of the community within their wards to build the stands for their allocated water tanks in their ward. This approach has created jobs for local community members at a rate of five labourers per stand, for a total of 500 stands to date. A robust quality assurance routine is conducted to check the quality of the stands constructed by the sub-contractors, before payment is processed. The outsourced activities are regularly monitored in line with the Provisions of PFMA and National Treasury regulations. Sedibeng Water submit weekly Ministerial reports to account for progress & expenditure for the various projects.

Working together with MAP Water, 12 local labourers were employed to deal with water leaks and the fixing of burst. Sourcing of 75 local labourers for the construction of for major projects like the Uniqwa Reversal Pipeline Project has contributed towards the acceleration of mandate to fix the water infrastructure in the Municipality.

The intervention project has also invested in community empowerment initiatives to provide skills and competency training for the youth in MAP LM. The 12 MAP Water Call Centre Agents and 12 MAP Water Provision Survey Volunteers were provided training in communication skills, media monitoring skills, interview skills for the water provision satisfaction survey, design of digital surveys, social media marketing, event planning and management as well as public relations skills.  

The MAP Water Provision Satisfaction Survey is designed to provide a community engagement opportunity for the local community to provide regular feedback on their satisfaction level with regard to the improvement (or lack thereof) of the intervention project. The results of the survey will be made available weekly and monthly as a performance barometer of the impact of the DWS Drought Relief and Covid-19 Intervention Project.

Despite the many challenges faced by Sedibeng Water in its quest to realize the DWS Ministerial mandate to fix the water crisis in Maluti-a-Phofung, Sedibeng Water has performed remarkably towards the successful implementation of the DWS Drought Relief and Covid-19 Intervention Project. Working collaboratively with the various stakeholders like MAP Water and MAP Municipality, Civic Organizations like the Harrismith Water Heroes and Water Crisis as well as with the broader community, has assisted Sedibeng Water greatly to alleviate undue project delays and positioned the project on a trajectory towards successful completion within schedule.

Issued by the Department of Water & Sanitation in collaboration with Maluti-a-Phofung Municipality and MAP Water (SOC) Ltd.