Communities suffer while stadium prospers

Residents of the Mataffin community around Mbombela Stadium currently draw water from a polluted stream. Photo by Dale Hes

Communities living within 200 metres of the Mbombela Stadium are still without water, despite the 2010 Fifa World Cup and 2013 AFCON host venue receiving thousands of litres of water every year.

A world-class water and sewerage infrastructure network is however set to change this, according to Water Service Provider Sempcorp Silulumanzi, who are responsible for the project.

“The development will provide water to over 750 houses in Mataffin, and is set to be completed within the next month or so,” said Sempcorp Silulumanzi project manager Prince Nyakane during a media tour to the site.

Nyakane said that the project and an associated sewerage network, due to be completed in February 2014, would cost R27 million.

The land for the R1.2bn stadium was sold to the Mbombela Local Municipality by the Matsefeni Trust in 2006, and communities were promised a water infrastructure network connected to the Mbombela Stadium’s water supply system.

Upon a visit to the community on September 27, The Write News Agency found residents filling up bottles from a heavily polluted stream. Tankers are currently being brought in by the municipality to provide water.

“We were promised that the stadium would change our lives, but it never happened,” said community member Lusito Dlamini when asked about the issue.

“I am hoping that the new development will change this and we can eventually get our own running water,” Dlamini added.

Sempcorp Silulumanzi operations manager Ray Tombs said that the project was part of a massive plan to expand Mbombela’s water and sewerage infrastructure over the next twenty years.

“The network will provide a 24 hour water supply and bring world-class Blue Drop and Green Drop Ratings to the area. We are sad that the Mbombela Stadium is receiving water but the communities are not,” said Tombs.

Tombs added that Sembcorp and the municipality were looking at various methods to ensure that the community paid for the water they received.

“We want to get leaders of the community involved, this is the only way forward. We are looking at metering, a flat rate payment system or even prepaid water, which is working well in other parts of the country,” Tombs explained.

A newsletter released by the Department of Water Affairs stated that an Availability Reconciliation Strategy was being developed to address worsening water shortages in Mbombela.

“The Mbombela Municipality is already in water deficit, because the Municipality’s abstractions exceed their legal water allocation. There have been water shortages in the past which will worsen steadily as water requirements increase due to economic growth and population increases,” the newsletter reads.

“It has been agreed that management rather than development options are preferred,” the newsletter goes on to say.

Management options reportedly include improving the operations of the existing water resources and investigating the potential impacts and benefits of water trading. – The Write News Agency