After unfulfilled promises spanning decades, the construction of the multibillion-rand Umzimvubu Water Project is well under way, with the first phase of the work more than 80% complete. But residents of the OR Tambo, Alfred Nzo and Joe Gqabi district municipalities will have to wait for about six years before they can access water from the project.
This may sound like a broken record, but several decades after it was first proposed and nine years after a sod-turning ceremony, the first phase of the Mzimvubu water project will finally commence in the new financial year in April. This was one of the promises made by President Cyril Ramaphosa regarding the Eastern Cape when he delivered his state of the nation address in Cape Town on Thursday evening.