Western Cape government steps in to bolster Matzikama’s water security

With dam levels dropping across the Western Cape, the Matzikama municipality will receive funding towards its water security. 

The Western Cape MEC for Local Government, Environmental Affairs, and Development Planning, Anton Bredell, said the municipality is currently classified as medium-risk. 

He said the Department is providing targeted support to reduce immediate risks, while longer-term interventions are being developed to ensure sustained water security in the years ahead. 

Bredell said as part of this support, the Department will be contributing R1.7 million towards the refurbishment of two sand filters at the municipality’s water treatment works.

An additional R800,000 will be allocated to replace ageing air valves on the Vanrhynsdorp water network to reduce the risk of pipe bursts, and R500,000 will be used to conduct groundwater studies to drill boreholes to augment the water supply for Vanrhynsdorp.

“Vanrhynsdorp currently relies on water piped from Vredendal and has storage capacity for only two days. This makes the town particularly vulnerable to supply interruptions caused by the ageing and fragile state of the main pipeline between the two towns, as well as unplanned outages when emergency repair work is required on the Lower Olifants River Canal System,” Bredell said.

He said the development of boreholes to supplement Vanrhynsdorp’s water supply would significantly reduce water-related risks and improve overall resilience.

Bredell commended the Matzikama municipality for its efforts to stabilise its finances, including its disciplined participation in Eskom’s debt-relief programme. 

“A clean balance sheet will make Matzikama more attractive to future investors, which will be essential for implementing larger and more capital-intensive water infrastructure projects in the long term. These include the construction of additional bulk water storage dams for Vredendal, as well as a new mainline pipeline between Vredendal and Vanrhynsdorp,” Bredell said.

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