Water treatment plant pours renewed hope into Hammanskraal

President Cyril Ramaphosa has officially commissioned the 50 megalitre per day Klipdrift Package Water Treatment Plant in Hammanskraal, a major infrastructure project aimed at delivering additional potable water to more than 47 000 households and addressing long-standing water supply challenges in the area.

The launch forms part of the government’s National Water Access Acceleration Programme and coincides with International Nelson Mandela Day commemorations, placing renewed focus on the constitutional right of communities to access safe and reliable drinking water.

The commissioning of the treatment plant comes against the backdrop of recurring water shortages that have affected parts of Gauteng for years, placing pressure on residents, businesses and public institutions.

Hammanskraal, in particular, has faced persistent concerns over water quality and supply, making the completion of the project a significant milestone in efforts to restore confidence in the area’s water infrastructure.

Addressing residents and stakeholders, Ramaphosa said the government is pulling out all the stops to urgently tackle severe water shortages and accelerate interventions aimed at improving water security.

The President also demanded clear timelines on when water from the newly commissioned facility will begin flowing through taps in Hammanskraal.

“I came here when there was a real crisis of water, and we have now elevated water as a top priority in our government system. We’ve set up a water committee, and people often say, ‘Oh, he sets up committees all the time.’ This is one committee that is really working, working with all the key stakeholders from unions to business to organisations as well as to government, and this is how we do things here. We collaborate, and this is a result of collaboration, particularly at the various levels of government”.

Ramaphosa says, “I am pleased to hear that having done this package we are now going to go on with the reticulation of water into the taps and to the homes of our people and the deputy executive mayor here and his team are now going to be hard at work to make sure that they clean up all those taps that have not been working for the longest time so that this water that we are now packaging and generating here can go into people’s homes.”

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