With hundreds of litres of water lost due to leakages in the Mangaung Metro, 50 community members were trained to assist in the metro’s new Masupatsela War on Water Leaks project.
Gregory Nthatisi, executive mayor, introduced the new project on 15 August.
The first 50 temporary employees out of a group of 150 will assist municipal workers in finding and fixing water and sewerage pipe leaks in the metro. The project seeks to address the challenges around water leaks across all towns of the metro, and will be rolled out in phases. The initial roll-out started in Bloemfontein with more towns to follow.
Nthatisi said the project would, periodically, employ community members as part of a shared responsibility by both the community and the municipality, to collaborate and cooperate in realising a leak-free metro.
He said the metro had already spent R50 million on upgrades at the Maselspoort Purification Plant and was working with other stakeholders on pumping more water to the city from the Gariep Dam.
“We cannot afford to lose 46% of the metro’s water each year,” Nthatisi told the temporary workers.
Mark Godwin of Smec Consultants, which did the consulting on the project, said it was planned to run over 12 months at a cost of R24 million.
