Construction on the raising of the Clanwilliam dam wall resumed on Monday after a lengthy delay.
“This is very welcome news and we want to applaud and thank the Water and Sanitation Department under Minister Gugile Nkwinti for keeping to their commitments and starting to deliver on their mandate to the public,” said Western Cape Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Minister Anton Bredell.
In a statement issued on Monday, he said the project had been long postponed and the delays were a contributing factor to the Western Cape’s recent drought woes.
“If the wall had been raised as planned, the situation may have never been as dire as it was over the past year. Water is the most basic of human rights and the ball cannot be dropped,” he explained.
Bredell said similar actions for other projects were needed across the other regions of the province, including the Bergriver/Voëlvlei augmentation scheme, and should follow suit.