The Minister of Public Works & Infrastructure:
(a) (i) The completion date for the Van Reenen Police Station in KwaZulu-Natal was 07 November 2016.
(ii) The name of the contractor who finished the project was Emcakwini Construction & Fencing CC.
(iii) The cost of the renovation was R8 750 523.65.
(b) The number of days since the last renovation is 2 years, 7 months and 17 days (as at 24 June 2019).
2. The police station has had very limited water supply due to the following reasons:
(a) from an altitude perspective, the police station is built in a mountainous area and during the low rainfall season (i.e. winter months) the yield (water supply) of the boreholes drops considerably, as a result of the low water table;
(b) the existing water supply installation consists of 3 boreholes; 2 boreholes are approximately 50 metres outside the fence on the south eastern side of the police station, and a third is in the brick building between the houses in the precinct. All three boreholes were equipped with submersible pumps. The boreholes pump into a 24 000 litre steel tank, which is housed on an elevated (concrete) tank stand, which then supplies the police station with water.
3. (a) (i) There are various reasons that contribute to the police station not having permanent supply of clean water, due to the following circumstances:
(ii) The lack of permanent water supply is currently not resolved as the local municipality does not have a water bulk supply network with adequate pressure feeding the police station. The existing municipal bulk water supply pipeline runs on the opposite side of the N3 whereas the police station is situated across the N3 without access to the municipal supply; hence the use of boreholes.
(b) In order to provide a permanent supply of clean water supply to the police station, an inter-governmental agreement shall be put into place. The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has commenced with an investigation into the permanent supply of clean water supply to the police station by entering into talks with SANRAL and the UThukela District Municipality, with a view to securing an agreement on the modalities to supply water from the municipal bulk water, through a new proposed pipeline that crosses the N3 servitude to feed the police station. At this stage it is anticipated that an inter-governmental agreement will be in place within a period of six months. The process is at an early stage and after the inter-governmental agreement has been reached a feasibility study will be necessary to define the scope, costs and implementation timelines prior to registration of a project for design and implementation.