The executive mayor of the Vhembe District Municipality, Cllr Falaza Mdaka, says water shortages in the Malamule area will soon be a thing of the past. This comes after the municipality recently launched a R10.3 million water project.

Residents in the area have been complaining about the shortage of water for the past 14 years.

"We are busy connecting water pipes from the Nandoni Dam to Malamulele. We know that the area has been without water for a long time and believe that the problem will soon be a thing of the past," says Mdaka.

He says the Malamulele water project is part of the Nandoni Bulk Water Supply Project which will also address shortage of water in other areas like Sinthumule and Kutama. The project, which started on June 14, has created job opportunities for about 50 unemployed residents.

Mdaka says the project will be completed in December this year. "Malamulele Town has faced the challenge of a water shortage since 1994, because the capacity of the supply of water was very small, due to the extension of sites," he adds.

The project includes the construction of a new reservoir in the area.

Mdaka has confirmed that water remains a challenge in the Vhembe District Municipality. "It will take another two years to replace old pipes that were wrongly installed as part of the Nandoni´s multi-million-rand water project that is aimed at addressing the water shortage in various parts of the district," he said. He said R600 million will be used to rectify the wrongly installed pipelines.