The DA-governed Kouga Municipality has once again demonstrated its status as the Eastern Cape’s leading municipality for service delivery and good governance by re-opening the upgraded Gill Marcus Water Treatment Works in Humansdorp.
The water treatment works that was re-opened on Friday was upgraded at a cost of nearly R5 million to incorporate borehole water treatment capabilities, which are essential due to the increasing demand for clean drinking water. [see pictures here and here)
This marks the completion of five groundbreaking water purification plants in Kouga, the largest in Africa utilising this process for municipal supply.
With these plants coming online, Kouga has reduced its reliance on dam water from 70% to 35%. The remaining 65% is now supplied from underground sources, including fountains and boreholes.
The Department of Water and Sanitation, in its Blue Drop Report for the 2022/2023 financial year, recognised Kouga as one of the best-performing water service authorities in the Eastern Cape, supported by an excellent technical site assessment rating of 91% for the Jeffreys Bay Water Treatment Works.
Other projects finalised this year include the addition of two boreholes in St. Francis Bay at a cost of R3 million and the successful restoration of the Paradise Beach Water Tower, a significant infrastructure project involving an investment of nearly R9.7 million.
The refurbishment of the Hankey Wastewater Treatment Works, costing close to R5 million, and the upgrade of the wastewater treatment works in KwaNomzamo, Humansdorp, with an investment of more than R42 million, are also underway.
The DA congratulates Kouga Mayor Hattingh Bornman and his team for prioritising water security and for their innovative, forward-thinking approach to ensuring residents have access to sufficient water.
Access to sufficient water is a basic human right enshrined in the South African Constitution. In Kouga, the only DA-governed municipality in the Eastern Cape, this right is upheld for residents.
In contrast, the ANC has shown little regard for citizens’ constitutional right to water in the rest of the province. In municipalities such as Makana and Inxuba Yethemba, residents have faced periods without water for weeks on end.
When we took over the government in 2016, Kouga was a broken municipality. Since then, the DA has put Kouga on the path to prosperity and will continue to deliver the DA difference to the people of Kouga.