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There is no end in sight for the current supply-chain disruptions affecting truck brands, says Tata International Africa and Tata Africa Holdings MD Len Brand.

“These disruptions that will eventually put pressure on vehicle prices, resulting in a negative impact on truck sales.”

Brand says the shortage in components owing to supply-chain constraints felt throughout the world has meant that Tata International Africa has had to work with supply shortages on some key models in its line-up for the last eight months.

“The OEMs [vehicle manufacturers] with whom we work closely have been very supportive and, although we have managed to stave off and avoid major losses in sales, the situation is still concerning.”

Brand adds that the prices of raw materials have increased substantially, noting that this will have a knock-on effect on the prices of trucks and equipment.

“In some markets we may experience a steep slowdown in commercial-vehicle sales. However, in some cases commodity-dependent markets are seeing good growth because of the higher price of raw materials.”

While the pandemic has affected all economies in the world, certain transport segments have fared better than others. This is the case for online shopping, for example, which has grown exponentially, notes Band.

Tata International Africa also witnessed the bus market being severely impacted as the demand for public transport reduced dramatically during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, goods will always need to be transported.

“Our product ranges are complementary, some are cyclical, and others are anti-cyclical, and this assists us in maintaining some stability in our business,” says Brand.

“We have also diversified our service offers with rental [offerings] and body building and these have added a new revenue stream for us, enabling us to put any under-utilised capacity or working capital to good use.”

As far as sourcing or manufacturing locally rather than importing is concerned, localisation is an important aspect in bringing some value creation into countries, says Brand. However, when it comes to cost reduction or ease-of-supply, it does not make much of a difference as vehicle parts and kits still need to be imported.

Using the microchip shortage as an example, Brand says the reality is that despite the copper for the chips coming from Zambia, the raw material will still flow to China to be processed into a chip.

The chip will then travel to Germany to be built into the fuel-injection pump, following which the pump will go to Korea or India to be incorporated in the truck-building kits, which will then exported brought to Africa.

“I see the optimisation of regional supply chains in a few ways, with near sourcing and higher inventory not being the only two options,” notes Brand.

“The first method is the rationalisation and commonisation of a range.

“The idea is to keep a lower number of semi-knock-down units and standardised models across a region to help factories plan their production better.”

The second strategy is to create a central stocking hub, says Brand.

“This can be done in two ways, stocking at one of the countries or at source countries, or at a third location that makes logistical sense.”

Regardless of what strategy is adopted, some concessions need to be made and some costs are going to increase, says Brand.

“Considering that the entire industry is faced with the same challenges, our relative competitiveness will not be affected,” he adds.

State-owned electricity producer Eskom has submitted major updates to the cost assumptions included in its latest allowable revenue application but has nevertheless sustained its request for a 20.5% tariff hike for its upcoming 2022/23 financial year.

In a presentation delivered on the second day of National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) public hearings on the application, CFO Calib Cassim said the updates reflected changes that had arisen subsequent to its initial submission, which was made on June 2 last year.

While no update was made to its 193 579 GWh sales forecast for the period, the main updates presented included:

a major downward revision to the assumed energy availability factor from its underperforming coal fleet from 72% to 62%;

a material decrease in assumed purchases of electricity from independent power producers (IPPs), from 36 448 GWh to 25 135 GWh;

a rise in the assumed volumes from the coal fleet from 169 216 GWh to 172 683 GWh, with an associated higher energy utilisation factor of 74% (62%); and

a significant increase in the anticipated load factor from its diesel-fuelled open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) from 1% to 7%.

The upshot is a R10-billion rise in Eskom’s assumed primary energy related costs for the year to R86.4-billion (R79.6-billion), the bulk of which could be attributed to higher diesel costs of R6.5-billion (R936-million), with assumed coal costs rising to R68.3-billion (R66.9-billion).

The lower IPP volumes, meanwhile, were attributed to a slower-than-anticipated introduction of new private generators in light of delays to several procurement programmes.

As a result, the pass-through payments due to IPPs were expected to be R52.6-billion next year, rather than the R70-billion reflected in Eskom’s original submission.

The share of IPP payments to allowable revenue in the updated assumptions declines to 18% (25%), while Eskom’s primary energy costs increase from 30% to 33%.

The costs associated with the environmental levy and the carbon tax increase, however, as a result of the higher share of fossil fuels in the production mix for 2022/23.

To sustain its overall allowable revenue request of R293.4-billion, including outstanding revenue arising from previous Nersa determinations, Eskom adjusted its return assumption from -1.99% to -1.2%, reflected in a reduced loss of R15-billion (R25-billion).

The application, therefore, continued to reflect a request for a 20.5% hike from April 1, which all stakeholders to have made presentations thus far at the hearings have described as unaffordable.

Full-time Nersa regulator and chairperson of the panel overseeing the hearings Nhlanhla Gumede questioned whether the methodology allowed for updates to be made to the assumptions subsequent to the application having been submitted.

Cassim responded that Eskom’s interpretation of the methodology was that adjustments could be made in order to reflect changes in the environment and noted that Nersa had allowed Eskom to present similar updates during previous revenue application hearings.

Gumede also continued to make a distinction between the allowable revenue decision and the tariff decision, urging the public to be aware of the fact that tariff decisions would include determinations arising from regulatory clearing account adjudications, as well as court rulings.

He again sought confirmation that Eskom was not expecting to recoup any of the R59-billion equity injection still due to it in line with a court ruling that found Nersa acted unlawfully when it deducted the injection from Eskom’s allowable revenue during a previous three-year tariff determination.

Gumede noted that the regulator was not contesting the unlawfulness of subtracting the equity injection from Eskom’s allowable revenue and had, instead, approached the Supreme Court of Appeal for a ruling on whether the High Court had “usurped” Nersa’s powers by stipulating a specific tariff rather than remitting the decision back to the regulato...

State-owned electricity utility Eskom has again insisted that its 2022/23 allowable revenue application, together with already approved regulatory clearing account (RCA) determinations, will translate to a hike of 20.5% in the standard tariff from April 1 if granted in full by the regulator.

Speaking during the first day of public hearings into the single-year application, being adjudicated in line with a recent court judgment, Eskom CFO Calib Cassim said that the application did not include several other amounts that might be due to Eskom, but which had not yet been confirmed by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) or settled through court processes.

He said the only RCA amount not currently catered for in its application, but which could be liquidated in the period, was the R3.5-billion approved by Nersa towards the end of 2021, and after its application was submitted.

The utility was also not assuming that it would be allowed to recoup other outstanding amounts, including any of the R59-billion equity injection still due to it in line with a court ruling that found Nersa acted unlawfully when it deducted the injection from Eskom’s allowable revenue during a previous three-year tariff determination.

While the regulator is not contesting the illegality of the decision as part of a Supreme Court of Appeal application, which instead focuses on whether the High Court judgment had subverted Nersa’s mandate to set tariffs, Eskom indicated that it was not expecting any recovery during the upcoming financial year.

That said, Cassim did indicate that Eskom would, during the course of the week-long virtual hearings, revise some of its assumptions, which could have an impact on the final request. The hearings are due to continue until January 21.

For instance, Eskom would lower the 72% energy availability factor assumption included in the original submission for its coal fleet, the performance of which had deteriorated further in the current financial year and had fallen to 64% for the year to date.

Nevertheless, full-time Nersa regulator and chairperson of the panel overseeing the hearings Nhlanhla Gumede continued to make a distinction between Eskom’s allowable revenue application and the actual tariff application for 2022/23, which he said would be adjusted to include amounts arising from RCA determinations and legal proceedings.

In the run-up to the hearings, Nersa included a table in its consultation paper outlining a possible hike of 54.35% once all factors were considered and later released a ‘pro forma’ table showing that the tariff hike could be 32.15% in 2022/23.

Cassim stressed that the percentage comparison had to be based not on the revenue increase, but on the increase in the actual tariff, which was 133.64c/kWh in 2021/22, after a R10-billion portion of the equity injection was included after a joint court order. Should it increase to 161.04c/kWh as applied for the increase would be 20.5%, he explained.

In its breakdown of its submission for allowable revenue in 2022/23 of R293.4-billion, Eskom attributed R246.3-billion to its generation division, R9.7-billion to transmission and R37.3-billion to its distribution business.

Primary energy remained the largest single component at R79.6-billion, followed by purchases from independent power producers for which Eskom was seeking R70-billion. The other components included operating costs (R66.7-billion), international purchases (R4.6-billion), the environmental levy (R6.6-billion), provision for the carbon tax (R2.7-billion), arrear debt (R5.7-billion) and depreciation (R58.2-billion).

A negative amount of R25-billion has also been included for return on assets.

All the other participants to the hearing, which kicked off in the Western Cape, urged Nersa to reject Eskom’s application, which was described as unaffordable, particularly given the hardships South Africans were still experiencing as a result of the measures taken to combat Covid-19.

Cape Town May...

Hard-to-abate carbon emissions-intensive sectors – such as heavy-duty transport, aviation, maritime and heavy industries – may be able to reduce their emissions through the use of green hydrogen produced at a deep-water harbour facility in Boegoebaai, 60 km north of Port Nolloth.

The Boegoebaai green hydrogen development has been designated a Strategic Integrated Project in the South African National Development Plan and is located in the Namakwa Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

Green hydrogen is produced using only renewable energy sources.

Speaking during a stakeholder engagement meeting in Port Nolloth on January 17, Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele said such hard-to-abate industries cannot be decarbonised through renewable energy and electrification or through renewable energy and battery storage and that green hydrogen was “the best, long-term opportunity” to decarbonise such sectors as it produces zero harmful emissions.

Integrated chemicals and energy company Sasol signed a memorandum of agreement with the Northern Cape Economic Development, Trade and Promotion Agency to lead a 24-month feasibility study to explore the potential of Boegoebaai as an export hub for green hydrogen and ammonia.

Currently, Sasol is a major grey hydrogen (hydrogen made from natural gas) manufacturer, producing about 2.4-million tonnes a year for the domestic market.

The production of green hydrogen, however, provides Sasol with an opportunity to leverage its expertise to enter a new market through greenfield facilities like the planned Boegoebaai Green Hydrogen SEZ, said Gungubele.

At the same time, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition is developing a hydrogen commercialisation strategy, and the Northern Cape and Gauteng provincial governments are developing provincial green hydrogen strategies focused on exports and domestic decarbonisation, respectively.

South Africa has a number of strategic advantages which could make it a globally competitive green hydrogen production area, said Gungubele.

These advantages include a “superior endowment of both onshore wind and solar, [with] renewable energy [being] the largest cost component in the production of green hydrogen”, he pointed out.

Also, Gungubele pointed out that South Africa holds the largest concentration of known platinum group metal (PGM) reserves, further making it advantageous as a result of platinum being a major component in the manufacture of hydrogen fuel cells and polymer electrolyte membrane electrolysers. “[Ninety percent] of known PGM reserves are in South Africa and Zimbabwe.”

In addition, he said South African industry has a “deep expertise” in the Fischer-Tropsch Process used to produce power fuels, such as diesel, petrol and kerosene (jet fuel).

As for the energy required to produce green hydrogen, Gungubele highlighted that South Africa has large tracts of “relatively cheap” land that could be used for building renewable energy plants, as well as a “large electric grid for the wheeling of renewable energy”.

GREEN HYDROGEN DEMAND

In terms of demand, he said South Africa had a large domestic industrial base that could serve as a source of local demand for green hydrogen.

Green hydrogen is still an emerging sector but is one with significant potential, Gungubele stated. “Global green hydrogen demand could reach 530-million tonnes by 2050, displacing roughly 10.4-billion barrels of oil equivalent, [which is about] 37% of pre-pandemic global oil production.”

He added that the green hydrogen export market could be worth $300-billion a year by 2050.

In its efforts to catch up on export potential and domestic decarbonisation efforts, Gungubele said work has been undertaken in the past 12 months to catalyse green hydrogen endeavours.

In this regard, he pointed out that Infrastructure South Africa has been working with the Northern Cape and Gauteng provincial governments to develop catalytic green hydrogen projects that will underpin provincial green hydrogen...

A court application to have the energy regulator’s 2021 approval of Sasol Gas’s maximum gas prices set aside as irrational is but the latest clash in what has been a long-running saga over the way domestic gas prices are set in a market bereft of competition.

This time, however, the stakes for the members of the Industrial Gas Users Association of Southern Africa (IGUA-SA), which launched the application in the Gauteng division of the High Court in December, are extremely high.

These large steel, aluminium, ceramics, glass, packaging, food and beverage manufacturers are facing a possible 220% hike in July on the total price of gas, which would result in the prevailing maximum gas molecule price of R68/GJ rising to more than R217/GJ. A prospect that IGUA-SA executive officer Jaco Human likens to “staring down the barrel of a gun”.

In an interview with Engineering News, Human warns that the impending hike would be devastating for the competitiveness of industrial gas consumers and discloses that various mitigation measures are being discussed alongside the legal action.

He says it is premature to offer details of the possible mitigation options, disclosing only that the hike is well above indicative prices being proposed by international gas suppliers, notwithstanding the recent surge in gas prices globally.

These measures are being considered owing mainly to the fact that the legal intervention is not expected to be concluded before the July increase is implemented.

Indeed, no court date has been set and it took years and a Constitutional Court judgment for the previous formula to be overhauled.

The respondents to the application, Nersa and Sasol Gas, have yet to formally respond, but Nersa has already indicated that it intends submitting a motion to oppose.

In response to an Engineering News enquiry, Nersa said it was aware of the court application and that it had “taken the decision to oppose the matter, as such the matter is sub judice”.

Sasol, meanwhile, reports that it is currently reviewing the application, which it received on December 15.

“In the event that Sasol does decide to oppose the matter, the appropriate court papers will be filed in due course in accordance with the procedural requirements in terms of the applicable court rules,” the company said in response to an enquiry.

In its founding affidavit, IGUA-SA argues that the impending hike is attributable wholly to an “irrational” pricing methodology.

This methodology was approved in 2020 after the Constitutional Court declared, in 2019, the previous maximum-price formula – calculated using a reference basket of alternative fuels – to be irrational and unlawful.

The current formula uses a benchmark of international gas prices associated with the US Henry Hub, the Dutch Title Transfer Facility and the UK National Balancing Point.

Human says it is yielding a pricing outcome that is even higher than those that emerged from the alternative-fuels basket, and well above those that prevailed during the decade-long “grace period” from 2004 to 2014, when Sasol Gas was regarded as an “unconstrained monopolist”.

“The new methodology generates a maximum gas price in the range of R42/GJ to R81/GJ, over the period from the third quarter of 2014 to the second quarter of 2022.

“These maximum gas prices are even higher on average than the actual prices charged historically when Sasol Gas was not constrained by Nersa’s previous bout of irrational non-regulation, in the period 2014–2021, by a total amount of approximately R2.8-billion,” Human asserts.

The outlook, however, is even more troubling for IGUA-SA members, with a pro forma application of the methodology pointing to the gas energy component of the overall regulated piped gas price rising to above R217/GJ, before the tariffs and levies associated with the transmission of the gas from Mozambique and the domestic distribution of the gas.

“Such exponentially escalating costs will not only substantially prejudice downstream ...

Africa mobility fintech company Moove has launched operations in Nairobi, Kenya, its first city in East Africa and sixth on the continent.

To expand the company’s vehicle and product offerings to customers, the company has partnered with Uber to allow ride-hailing and delivery drivers to purchase motorcycles for Uber Connect, UberEats deliveries and UberBoda (motorcycle taxi) trips.

In addition, following its recent partnership with pan-African e-logistics platform Lori Systems, Moove has expanded its logistics offering with Kenyan fulfilment and last-mile logistics company Sendy.

“Entering the East African market allows Moove to drive closer to its goal of democratising vehicle ownership by providing revenue-based vehicle financing across Africa,” explains the company in a statement.

“With Kenya's lending costs almost twice that of South Africa's and the average loan deposit standing at between 10% and 30%, affordability is still an issue for entrepreneurs who lack a credit history ­– a typical financing hurdle on the continent.

“Moove will use this market opportunity to enable drivers to leverage its alternative credit-scoring technology and gain access to brand-new vehicles, which creates more good job opportunities within the mobility industry.”

“Kenya already has a thriving mobility and entrepreneurial industry for us to tap into and roll out our financing solutions, so we’re very excited to be launching into Nairobi, our sixth market in 18 months,” notes Moove co-founder and CEO Ladi Delano.

“As one of the biggest economies across Africa, our move into Kenya serves as a gateway to other East African markets. We are excited to continue our expansion, having achieved over 50%-plus month-on-month growth since our launch.

“Moove recently received the IFC Corporate Award as one of the top 20 most impactful and transformational companies in their portfolio as it is applying an innovative and scalable solution towards solving a continent-wide problem,” adds Delano.

“This further validates that our model is really working in getting customers to the virtuous path of vehicle ownership. And, by doing so, we are creating employment and income opportunities for these mobility entrepreneurs.”

On the back of the recent launch of its first two-wheeler bike product, Moove Xpress, in Lagos, Nigeria, Moove is also expanding this new-vehicle class to East Africa.

As a result of the partnership with Uber, drivers in Nairobi will have access to Moove Xpress bikes for UberConnect (peer-to-peer delivery), UberBoda trips and UberEats food deliveries.

Currently estimated at $80-billion, the two-wheeler hailing market in sub-Saharan Africa is plagued by a lack of access to new vehicles, as well as a lack of regulation of both drivers and riders.

In addition, Moove has also signed a new partnership with Sendy, an end-to-end logistics, retail and freight company.

The Sendy partnership expands Moove’s logistics vehicle offering following its recent partnership with Lori Systems to fuel the growth of Africa’s trucking and logistics industry.

Financing for Africa trucking stands at less than 1%, reports Moove.

Co-founded in 2019 by Delano and Jide Odunsi, Moove provides asset-backed vehicle financing by embedding its alternative credit-scoring technology onto ride-hailing and e-logistics platforms.

Moove offers loans to customers by selling them new vehicles and financing up to 95% of the purchase price within five days of signing up.

Customers can choose to repay their loans over 12, 36, 48 or 60 months, paying a percentage of their weekly income through the Moove app, which manages all transactions and provides access to other financial products on the platform.

To date, Moove-financed cars have completed more than 1.6-million trips with over 20-million kilometres travelled across its markets.

Nasser Al Attiyah and Mattieu Baumel have won the 2022 Dakar rally in their South African-built Gazoo Toyota Hilux.

Al Attiyah and Baumel led the 4 000 km two-week race across the Saudi Arabian Desert from start to finish, ultimately winning the race by 27 minutes from Sebastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin’s BRX Hunter.

Yazeed Al Rajhi and Michael Orr’s Hilux was third from Orlando Terranova and Daniel Carreras’ Hunter.

South African Gazoo Racing heroes, Giniel de Villiers and Denis Murphy made it three South African-built Hilux bakkies in the top five.

De Villiers has never been out of the Dakar top ten in any of the 19 Dakar rallies he has raced.

Al Attiyah and Baumel’s Hilux took the advantage at the New Year’s Day Prologue leg and never looked back.

Critically, they dodged any real problems throughout the event to deliver a perfect Dakar, and score Nasser’s fourth, Mattieu’s third and the South African Gazoo Racing Toyota Hilux's second Dakar victories.

Perhaps surprisingly, Attiyah and Baumel only won two stages throughout, however, they were only outside of the top ten once in two weeks of racing.

South Africa’s new policy allowing power plants smaller than 100 MW for self-consumption or to connect to the grid and to sell power without applying for a generating licence may help address capacity issues in the short term, the International Energy Agency (IEA) states in a new report.

“A number of large industrial customers have already announced plans to build plants to power their own operations in response to this evolution in policy,” the IEA adds in the January edition of its semi-annual ‘Electricity Market Report’.

The report notes that, following a 5% contraction in electricity demand in South Africa in 2020, there had been a 3% year-on-year recovery during first ten months of 2021.

Ongoing capacity shortages, combined with their economic impacts, had led to declining electricity demand over recent years, however, during which “persistent load-shedding has become the norm”.

The IEA says it is premature to state what impact the 100 MW policy reform will have on demand.

“[However], as a country with a major energy shortage, South Africa could expect to see a boost in demand as capacity issues are alleviated by projects built outside the traditional auction process,” the IEA states.

For 2021, it estimates demand growth of about 2.7%.

The report states that South Africa is actively trying to address capacity shortages but also notes reliability issues with Medupi and Kusile as a problem, as well as delays to the 2 GW Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP).

Difficulties with the RMIPPPP “include the failure of the three power ships to obtain the necessary environmental permits to generate electricity at three different South African ports”.

The report also notes the conclusion of the latest renewable auction in October, but adds that the facilities are not expected to enter operation before 2024.

“New policy may help address capacity issues in the short term, as licensing obligations for embedded generation (i.e. demand-side generation) have been relaxed,” the report adds.

In December, Eskom announced that it would make 36 000 ha of land available in the grid-rich Mpumalanga province for private renewables projects and that its bidding criteria would “favour generators for size and speed of delivery”.

The utility estimates that the current supply deficit is between 4 000 MW and 6 000 MW.

In its analysis of the African electricity market, meanwhile, the IEA estimates that electricity supply across the continent grew by 5.6% in 2021 and is forecast to grow by a further 5% in 2022.

The majority of the new capacity due to come online over the coming years will arise from a host of renewables and gas projects, with renewables set to supply more than 60% of net demand growth between 2022 and 2024.

GLOBAL MARKET STRAIN & COAL SURGE

The recovery in the African electricity market in 2021 came amid surging global electricity demand, which created strains in major markets, pushed up prices and drove power sector emissions to a record high.

The report notes that the 6% rise in global electricity demand last year was the largest in percentage terms since 2010 when the world was recovering from the global financial crisis.

In absolute terms, last year’s increase of over 1 500 terawatt-hours was the largest ever, it adds.

About half of last year’s global growth took place in China, where demand grew by an estimated 10% and where coal shortages led to power cuts in the second half of the year.

Coal-fired generation grew by 9%, serving more than half of the increase in demand, and reached a new all-time peak as high natural gas prices led to gas-to-coal switching.

Gas-fired generation grew by 2%, while nuclear increased by 3.5%, almost reaching its 2019 levels.

In total, carbon dioxide emissions from power generation rose by 7%, also reaching a record high, after having declined the two previous years.

The IEA’s price index for major wholesale electricity markets almost doubled compared with 2020 and...

Creamer Media's Chanel de Bruyn speaks to Engineering News Editor Terence Creamer about the difficulties in the South African electricity sector in 2021, the issues that are still facing Eskom, whether there are any signs of hope for the sector this year and what should be done to begin dealing with the country's energy crisis once and for all.

The Sedibeng Regional Sewer Sanitation Scheme, which remains central to resolving the issues that affect the Vaal River System in the Emfuleni local municipality, has been prioritised by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and is part of the immediate scope of works that will be undertaken by Rand Water.

In a series of answers in response to parliamentary questions, Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu explained that Rand Water was appointed in October as the Vaal River System Intervention Project Implementing Agent in the Emfuleni local municipality for three years to restore the water services infrastructure to an operational state.

Rand Water has submitted a detailed project implementation plan to the DWS.

The Sedibeng Regional Sewer Sanitation Scheme falls under the Vaal River System Intervention, which is one of 11 prioritised projects under Strategic Integrated Projects 19, according to the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission Council.

The estimated total cost for the intervention is R7.6-billion and the DWS had transferred R100-million to Rand Water to start with the operations in October 2021.

According to Mchunu, a panel of contractors for civil engineering services was appointed in June 2021, while tender documents for mechanical and electrical engineering services will be published early in 2022.

In an update to the progress being made on the Sedibeng Regional Sewer Sanitation Scheme, which includes the upgrade of Sebokeng, Rietspruit and Leeuwkuil wastewater treatment works (WWTWs) and the completion of the Meyerton WWTW, he said that 10 unblocking and eight bio-solids contractors have been appointed to unblock sewer main lines and cleaning of the WWTWs.

“Sewage is being removed from communities and channelled to wastewater treatment works, which has resulted in increased volumes of inflows into the Sebokeng, Leeuwkuil and Rietspruit WWTW.”

The upgrading of Sebokeng WWTW (50 Ml/day Module 6) was completed in December 2020 and the final inspection and handover of the sludge dewatering facility was completed in August 2021.

“The project is currently under defects liability period until the end of August 2022. The remaining minor scope for civil works is to be allocated to emerging and local service providers,” Mchunu commented.

The tender documents for the upgrading of the Sebokeng WWTW (50 Ml/day Module 7) have been finalised and the project is ready to go out on tender, while the construction of the Rothdene Pump Station Rising Main is 88% complete, with the pipe having been laid, pipe jacking undertaken and valve chambers constructed.

Further, the upgrading of Meyerton WWTW by 15 Ml/day is 94% complete for civil work, 81% for mechanical work and 88% complete for electrical work.

However, delays have been experienced owing to inclement weather, community stoppages, labour strikes and demobilisation of the civil contractor, which had liquidated.

Mchunu established a project steering committee (PSC), cochaired by Deputy Minister David Mahlobo and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Lebogang Maile, to keep stakeholders abreast about project progress and address stakeholder’s project-related concerns.

The PSC has met twice already on October 25 and November 5.