A mega construction project to raise the Clanwilliam Dam walls by 13 metres has been delayed for years due to various challenges, including procurement and funding issues. It was originally scheduled to finish in 2018, but the current delivery date is May 2028. The cost of building the dam has risen from an initial R2.2 billion to R5.6 billion.
The Clanwilliam Dam, located on the Olifants River, was originally built in 1935 and the dam wall was last raised in the 1960s.
The initial feasibility study to raise the Clanwilliam Dam wall was finalised in 2008.
The feasibility report by the former department of water affairs and forestry noted that there is a need for a better supply of water for agriculture in the area and also “pressure to allocate additional water to resource-poor farmers in this area”. The report also noted that at the time there were dam spills almost every year.
Currently, the dam is the responsibility of the department of water and sanitation (DWS). DWS spokesperson Wisane Mavasa said that the current progress of the project is at 19%. The project only commenced in 2018. There were further delays and work stopped after a few years, only restarting in 2023.
Feasibility studies from 2007 also showed that the dam wall did not comply with safety standards, that it leaked when at full capacity, that it had cavities in its foundation, and that remedial work had to be done to strengthen the dam wall.
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The condition of the Clanwilliam Dam was rated F by the Dam Safety Office in September 2022. This means the dam is unsafe. Mavasa said that emergency work on the dam is now 32% complete. This, she says, will likely improve the rating.
What has caused all the delays?
In 2018, responding to a parliamentary question, the DWS said that the tender bid for appointing a construction contractor, which was issued in 2016, was not awarded “due to unavailability of funds for the construction phase of the project”.
Construction then started in 2018 after a long delay.
But following this, construction halted at about 12% completion for a few more years due to “procurement challenges”, according to Western Cape minister of agriculture Ivan Meyer in a provincial parliamentary response from 2021.
Meyer said that the Covid pandemic further delayed the DWS from continuing with the dam project.
Finally, during an oversight visit in 2023, former DWS minister Senzo Mchunu committed to resuscitating the multi-billion rand project, adding that at completion it would more than double its current capacity to 343 million cubic metres. The project started again in 2023.
In a statement, Peter Plaaitjies spokesperson for the Services to Our People’s Party (STOPP), raised concerns about the rising costs and shifting completion dates of the dam project.
Local communities’ concerns
“This project, meant to secure water for communities, sustain agriculture, and create jobs, has instead been marred by incompetence, waste and a blatant disregard for accountability,” he said.
Initially, the cost of the project was R2.2 billion and it was set to be completed in 2018. But the cost rose to R4 billion after several years of delays. It was then meant to be completed in 2023. Now, it is currently estimated to cost R5.6 billion, and according to DWS spokesperson Mavasa, to be completed in May 2028.
Francois Swartbooi, a local businessman and subcontractor on the project, raised concerns that not enough people from the Cederberg and Matzikamma area were contracted to work on the construction of the dam. “It’s one of the biggest projects in the Western Cape, and our people can’t even get access to it. That is our concern as the local community,” said Swartbooi.
But Mavasa said that local people are to be contracted for goods and services, and to date, more than 30 suppliers have been contracted on the project and “more will be contracted as the project progresses”.
This story was first published on GroundUp.
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