Deputy Minister Mahlobo visits incomplete Delmas waste treatment plant, delayed for nearly two years

Delmas – Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, David Mahlobo, accompanied by local and district mayors, conducted an oversight visit at Delmas Wastewater Treatment Plant to assess the plant’s operations and service delivery.

“Safeguarding our water resources, promoting sustainable community development and preserving public health all depend on effective wastewater treatment,” said Deputy Minister Mahlobo. “The Department is still dedicated to collaborating closely with local governments to resolve infrastructure issues and improve service delivery.”

The Delmas Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade began in 2022 and was initially scheduled for completion within 24 months. This should have been not later than last year, 2024, yet the municipality and DWS agreed on extending the projected completion date to March 2026. This is after the contractor, WWTSA & AMULET Group, requested an additional three months. They say this is a “reclamation plan rather than an acceleration plan”,

Nkangala District Executive Mayor Thomas Ngwenya claimed that heavy rainfall caused water seepage and the original construction team lacked sufficient capacity to maintain the project timeline.

Ngwenya stressed that the project must be completed within the current budget, noting that R106 million of the R262 million total allocation remains unused.

“We don’t have extra money lying around,” he said. “In order to assess progress and determine whether the extension is practical, our technical team will reconvene with DWS, the municipality, consultants, and the contractor this Thursday (30 October 2025). It will come with strict conditions, if granted.”

Ngwenya added that the contractor is also being penalised R2,000 per day for exceeding the original project timeline. Despite these challenges, officials reaffirmed their commitment to uphold political oversight to ensure accountability and completion.

The visit of 27 October 2025 forms part of the Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS) ongoing efforts to monitor wastewater management and ensure compliance with national water quality standards.

During the inspection Deputy Minister Mahlobo met with engineers, plant management and municipal leaders to review the facility’s operational state, discuss ways to improve sustainability and efficiency, and evaluate the quality of treated effluent. The plant’s capacity to handle increasing wastewater volumes and the status of ongoing upgrade projects were key points of discussion.

Riddick Thembinkosi Mlambo, a general worker at the plant, raised concerns about labour compliance and worker welfare. He claimed that despite salary deductions, workers had not been registered with the Department of Employment and Labour since the project began in 2022.

“They take our money, but when we check with the Department, we don’t appear on the system,” Mlambo claimed. “We even receive our payslips after six months, and we don’t know our rates yet we’re working in construction.”

To address these concerns, Deputy Minister Mahlobo said that the DWS will hold a virtual meeting with the mayors as well as the construction manager, to review the project’s overall progress and address workers’ concerns.