Giyani water project still incomplete after 16 years and R4.5bn

The protracted R4.5 billion Giyani bulk water project remains incomplete, 16 years after its inception in 2010, leaving the 55 communities in the Mopani region that are meant to benefit from it thirsty for years. The project began in August 2014 after former president Jacob Zuma had visited the drought-stricken Giyani town to hand over a purification plant. Dubbed the Giyani Bulk Water Project, this ambitious project was billed to be completed by 2017.

However, many thirsty residents of Giyani are still waiting for this precious basic human need to be provided. The project, which began with a budget just above R500 million, stalled for years because of alleged corruption by service providers and officials from Lepelle Northern Water. From R500 million, its budget has now ballooned to more than R4.5 billion.

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) toldThe Citizenthis week that the project’s primary objective is to address the chronic water supply failures affecting Giyani and 55 surrounding villages in the Mopani district of Limpopo. “Although initial completion was targeted for 2017, the project experienced prolonged delays due to contractor underperformance, governance failures, corruption, fragmented responsibilities and insufficient integration between bulk supply, treatment and reticulation components,” said DWS spokesperson Wisane Mavasa. “From 2021 onwards, DWS strengthened national oversight and working with Mopani district municipality (which is the Water Services Authority) and Lepelle Northern Water as implementing agents, restructured the programme to focus on completing the end-to-end water supply system, ensuring that bulk infrastructure, treatment capacity and household reticulation progress in a coordinated manner,” she said.

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Mavasa added that multiple projects have been implemented in Giyani, including the raw water transfer from Nandoni to Nsami, the refurbishment and upgrade of water treatment works, potable bulk water infrastructure (pipelines and reservoirs), and reticulation of potable water to household taps. She said the department has now prioritised restoring reliable raw water supply, rehabilitating and upgrading the Giyani Water Treatment Works by another 10 megalitres (ml/d), completing bulk distribution to villages and enabling phased household connections. Despite claiming to have made significant progress, Mavasa said the Giyani Water Treatment Works needs an additional upgrade, with construction planned for the 2026/27 financial year at an estimated cost of R422 million.

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