10 Feb 2025

The Gamalete area needs a comprehensive water supply network rehabilitation and expansion in order to address the constant water supply challenges.

Water utilities Corporation (WUC) Greater Gaborone General Manager, Mr Kabo Maforaga highlighted this when addressing a leadership forum of the Ramotswa District Council recently. He said his organisation made submissions in the National Development Plan (NDP) 12 projects for the entire district, advocating for the district to be prioritised when the preliminary plan was drafted.

On another note, Mr Maforaga said the corporation had made a request for funding at the Development Bank of Southern Africa to rehabilitate the Siga wellfield and Boatle treatment plant. Mr Maforaga said the constituency, encompassing Ramotswa, Taung, Boatle, Mogobane and Otse, had a total demand of 10.41 million litres of water per day was currently receiving only 9.6 million litres.

He said the area originally had nine boreholes from the Siga wellfields with only three operational while the rest had collapsed and dried up. He said the demand was met in some areas while some were not getting any water due to poor networks with small diameter pipes which were not delivering the required volumes.

Mr Maforaga said another challenge was the non-commissioning of the Lobatse Water Masterplan project as the constituency was a beneficiary of the project. He said the pipeline had tee-offs at Boatle, Otse, Mogobane and Police college.

He said the constituency luckily had the Magope-Disana project funded through the constituency funding of P10 million, which was divided into two phases. Phase 1, he said, included construction of the pump station, a 3.7 kilometres transmission line and 500 000 litres elevated tank funded at a tune of over P16 million with WUC covering the difference in the total costs.

Mr Maforaga said the Boatle treatment plant was completed in 2021 but was dysfunctional due to failure of pipe work. He said they engaged an expert to do an assessment to bring the plant to operation and a report was produced which estimated the total cost to address the defect at over P6 million.

For his part area MP, Mr Boniface Mabeo said only WUC was charged with the mandate to deliver on its promises of keeping water flowing for Batswana. He urged all stakeholders to remain focused on the challenges and crisis.

He told the meeting to work together and be focused on their number one client being the people and be honest  when giving feedback. He urged them to unite to find a lasting solution to the water supply challenge.

Gamalete Kgosi Mosadi said it was important to set time frames as the revised solutions to the challenges. She decried the non-commissioning of the Forest Hill network which she said was an exciting project that should have been beneficial to Gamalete community. ENDS