VREDENDAL – The Western Cape government is providing R3 million in funding to address water security challenges facing the Matzikama Municipality, which includes major towns such as Vredendal, Vanrhynsdorp, Klawer, Lutzville, and Koekenaap.
Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, met with municipal officials on Thursday to discuss the municipality’s current water security status and related challenges.
Matzikama is currently classified as a medium-risk municipality. The Department of Local Government is providing targeted support to reduce immediate risks, while longer-term interventions are being developed to ensure sustained water security in the years ahead.
The department is 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 for the replacement of ageing air valves on the Vanrhynsdorp water network to reduce the risk of pipe bursts. A further R500 000 will be used to conduct groundwater studies, with the aim of drilling boreholes to augment water supply for Vanrhynsdorp.
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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.
“The development of boreholes to supplement Vanrhynsdorp’s water supply will significantly reduce water-related risks and improve overall resilience,” Bredell said.
The minister also commended the municipality for its efforts to stabilise its finances, including 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.
The municipality also includes the towns of Doring Bay, Strandfontein, Bitterfontein, Nuwerus and Ebenhaezer.
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