Rooiwal water plant refurbishment projected to cost R4bn
It is estimated it will now cost R4 billion to fully refurbish the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works in Hammanskraal, where cholera has claimed 23 lives.
It's suspected the plant may have contributed to the outbreak.
During a briefing on Thursday, Water and Sanitation Director-General Sean Phillips said several factors have contributed to the treatment plant's failure, including limited capacity, pollution and tender irregularities.
Phillips says the upgrades will be done in three phases.
"The first phase will be to complete the repair project which was started by the city a couple of years ago and is currently standing at 68% completion.
"The second phase will involve the upgrading of the plant's treatment capacity by 50 mega-litres of wastewater a day. The third phase will involve adding a further 80 mega-litres a day of capacity to the plant."
Earlier today, health authorities confirmed a cholera-related death of an elderly woman in Mpumalanga province.
The 73-year-old's passing brings to 25 the total number of people who've succumbed to the disease.
Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu says this loss of life has offered an opportunity for important lessons for the future.
"Indeed the future looks tougher in water and sanitation than we have seen before. Therefore in order for us to be able to more faster and catch up with deficits that we foresee and that we are seeing we need this kind of spirit."
