09 Dec 2024

Macheng villages being Hukuntsi, Tshane, Lokgwabe and Lehututu have a water demand of 1 564m³ per day and the villages are supplied through four boreholes with a daily output of 1 114m³ per day.

This results in a daily deficit of 450m³ per day, Minister of Water and Human Settlement informed Parliament recently.

He said water supply to the villages of Maake, Hunhukwe, Monong and Ncaang was supplied by one borehole at Hunhukwe at 108m3 per day against a demand of 140m3 per day resulting in daily deficit of 32m³. 

The water supply to the villages of Ngwatle and Zutshwa is through Ngwatle reverse osmosis plant, currently supplying 55m³ per day against a daily demand of 117m³, thus a daily shortage of 62m³, said Minister Ramogapi.

He said water supply to Macheng villages was being mitigated in the short-term basis through interventions that included water rationing and bowsing. 

Minister Ramogapi said long term solutions for Monong, Zutshwa, Ngwatle, Hunhukwe and Ncaang was to be mitigated by the implementation of Ncojane-Hukuntsi Water Transfer Scheme that would supply water to all Kgalagadi North villages, from Ukhwi to Hukuntsi. He said the project was awarded in October but was still on hold due to litigation and insufficient funding. 

The ministry will restart the procurement of the project when funds are available and if the was no restraint from the High Court, Mr Ramogapi explained.

The minister indicated that water supply challenges in the Macheng villages began in 2018 due to decommissioning of four 4 boreholes at Tshane, Lokgwabe and Lehututu due to water quality falling below acceptable limits for recommended for human consumption.

Secondly, he said one borehole in Lehututu dried out in 2023 and was decommissioned. ‘Generally, the yield of the remaining operational boreholes has also reduced due to over pumping to meet the increasing water demand. 

The water challenges in Monong, Hunhukwe, Ncaang and Maake areas began in 2022 due to the drying of the second borehole in Hunhukwe hence supply became inadequate,” Minister Ramogapi explained. Shortage in Ngwatle and Zutshwa he said began in 2018 due to change in water quality of the Ngwatle borehole supplying the Reverse Osmosis (RO) Plant.

Water from the borehole became more saline and was decommissioned, resulting in the decline in plant output from 62 per cent to the current 51 per cent, Minister Ramogapi said. 

The minister also explained that the two shift system was used from March 2021 to August last year when it was halted due to high incidents of near misses and accidents at night, as well as hight operational and maintenance costs of water bowser trucks and personnel. 

MP for Kgalagadi North, Mr Reason Lekutlane asked the minister to apprise the House on the current crisis in Macheng and catchment area being villages of Zutshwa, Ngwatle, Nonong, Ncaang, Maaka and Hunhukwe, the long and short term solution of the water crisis and how long had government been bowsing to the areas.

He also asked why the ministry terminated the shift waster bowsing system which worked well to keep water available to the affected communities. Ends