Ficksburg water earns Blue Drop status

Published Sep 20, 2011

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Bloemfontein - The Ficksburg water supply plant has won Blue Drop status, but nobody from the municipality was in Bloemfontein to accept the honour on Tuesday.

Blue Drop certificates were handed to three towns at a Water Affairs Department function.

Two of the certificates were awarded to the Maluti-a-Phofung municipality for its water supply plants in Qwaqwa and Harrismith.

The third was awarded to Ficksburg. But, when the Setsoto local municipality's name was called, no one came forward to receive the certificate.

The Blue Drop system is a regulatory tool used by the department to monitor the quality of drinking water, with a Green Drop certificate for waste water quality.

Free State water affairs director Petunia Ramunenyiwa said it was not good that not one Free State municipality had won a Green Drop certificate.

“That says a lot about us in the Free State.”

Several municipalities were mentioned for improvements in Blue Drop certification. They were the Mohokare, Letsemeng, Matjhabeng and Tswelopele municipalities.

Municipalities which had shown improvements in trying to meet the requirements for Green Drop certification were Maluti-a-Phofung, Metsimaholo and Mohokare.

Service delivery protests recently became a regular event in Ficksburg, which is run by Setsoto municipality. Free State co-operative governance MEC Mamiki Qabathe ordered an inquiry into the municipality’s affairs after protester Andries Tatane died in service delivery protests earlier this year.

An executive summary of a report indicated the municipality was in disarray, with no proper management and financial control. It was unstable because of widespread theft, fraud and corruption, the report revealed. - Sapa

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