Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma will on Friday visit Giyani, in Limpopo, to assess the status of water provision there, following recent complaints from the community.
The visit to the Greater Giyani Local Municipality, which is located in the Mopani District Municipality, forms part of the Presidential Siyahlola Monitoring Programme, through which the President undertakes hands-on monitoring of service delivery.
During the visit, President Jacob Zuma will, together with Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane, launch the Giyani Water Treatment Works.
He will thereafter visit families in the area and a hospital. The day’s events will end with a community meeting at Giyani Stadium.
The Giyani Local Municipality has five local municipalities with a population of 1 223 747 living in 348 villages and 15 towns. Fourteen percent of the settlement is urban, 81% is rural and 5% stay on farms.
Giyani residents have been experiencing water problems for years, especially in winter when there is no rain. Residents in the area get their water from taps, water tankers and rivers. However, most villages depend on groundwater from boreholes.
During her visit to the area in August, Minister Mokonyane promised the residents of Giyani access to water.
She appointed a task team, led by the Lepelle Water Board, to deal with all water related problems in the Mopani District Municipality. The team was given until the end of September to put the water supply in the Greater Giyani area back on track. – SAnews.gov.za
