08 Dec 2020

Department of Water and Sanitation has no records of water wells in Kanye North constituency, says Assistant Minister of Basic Education Ms Nnaniki Makwinja.

Responding to a question in Parliament on behalf of Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr Kefentse Mzwinila, Ms Makwinja however said there were 67 individual government boreholes in the area.

She said 10 out of the 67 boreholes were used for village water supply, 20 for groundwater monitoring.

In addition, Ms Makwinja noted that there were 35 boreholes drilled at Moshaneng well field, with four boreholes drilled for production and used for village water supply while 20 were used for groundwater monitoring while 11 were exploration boreholes.

She also added that 37 individual boreholes in the Kanye North Constituency were decommissioned due to either quality deteriorating and/or yields getting depleted.

In the Kanye South Constituency, Ms Makwinja indicated that there were 16 water wells, 33 individual boreholes within Kanye and 176 boreholes drilled at Kgwakgwe, Ramonnedi and Taupone areas.

Ms Makwinja explained that there were six production boreholes for water supply at schools and hospital within Kanye while the rest were for groundwater levels and quality monitoring, particularly nitrates.

Further, Ms Makwinja noted that the Kgwakgwe and Ramonnedi well fields continued to experience drastic decline in borehole production yields, resulting in acute water supply shortages in Kanye.

She said, therefore, as a result three boreholes within the Kgwakgwe and Ramonnedi well fields were decommissioned, owing to low yields.

Out of the 176 boreholes at Kgwakgwe, Taupone and Ramonnedi areas, 23 are production boreholes and used for village water supply; with 11 at Kgwakgwe, eight at Ramonnedi and four at Taupone.

She also noted that 134 boreholes were used for groundwater monitoring, with 42 at Kgwakgwe, 48 at Ramonnedi and 17 at Taupone.

Kanye area has 15 exploration boreholes, Ms Makwinja said, adding that Kgwakgwe had 10, Ramonnedi and Taupone had four and one respectively.

Furthermore, Ms Makwinja noted that 37 individual boreholes and three in the Kgwakgwe and Ramonnedi well fields were decommissioned due to either the quality deteriorating and/or yields getting depleted/low.

She said the boreholes with water quality problems did not comply with BOS32:2015: Drinking Water Specification, which she said was equivalent to WHO-Class-1 Drinking Water Quality Guidelines.

Ms Makwinja indicated that the ministry had observed that boreholes with water quality problems had elevated fluoride for drinking by people and irrigating crops, adding that fluoride caused chronic effects on human health.

Therefore, she said the concentrations were compliant with national limits (BOS365:201: Drinking Water for Livestock and Poultry Specification), and therefore could be used for watering cud- chewing livestock.

She also noted that nitrate concentration in some boreholes exceeded the national limit for drinking by people and also posed acute health challenges over time.

She, therefore, said the concentration of nitrates complied with national limits (BOS463:2011; Water and Quality for Irrigation Specification) for irrigating crops and watering all livestock.

She noted that the pH value in some boreholes was lower than the recommended operational limit since it had high corrosive capability on pipes and pumps.

Due to the water quality problems, Ms Makwinja noted that water in the decommissioned boreholes was, therefore, suitable for both agricultural, industrial and construction purposes.

Currently, she said the ministry was monitoring the recoveries from boreholes, which had been decommissioned due to depleted/low yield and said no allocations had been made for these boreholes.

She also noted that the ministry was leasing and allowing outright purchase of boreholes to groups/syndicates, individuals including farmers, who applied for the use of boreholes with good yields, but poor quality that could have otherwise used for village water supply.

She noted that to date, 12 government boreholes had been leased to either individuals or companies, 14 sold outright to individual customers for the socio-economic benefit of the community in relation to agricultural, industrial and construction purposes.

Kanye North MP, Mr Thapelo Letsholo had asked the minster to brief Parliament on water wells and boreholes in the Kanye North Constituency and Kanye village that were currently closed due to water quality problems.

He also asked the minister to state if the water quality was suitable for agricultural, industrial and construction purposes as well as the Ministry’s intentions to use water from such wells and boreholes for the socio-economic benefit of the community. ENDS