Mangaung's general manager of communications
The Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality governs the city of Bloemfontein and surrounding towns of Botshabelo and Thaba ‘Nchu in the Free State and the executive mayor, Thabo Manyoni, is committed to ensuring that the area shows growth, development and delivers an increasingly high standard of service. The city’s motto is to become a “globally safe city to live, work and invest in” and the municipality has identified a number of key areas that require accelerated growth and development and has spent the last two years giving them focused attention.
The first of these areas, and perhaps one of the most significant, is in the provision of reliable, clean water to residents. Mangaung has undergone extensive planning to ensure that the basic human right to clean running water and sanitation is provided throughout its municipality.
“One of the issues we have identified is the historic capacity limitations of our water purification plant,” says Manyoni. “To this end we have upgraded the Sterkwater Waste Water Treatment Plant and we are building another near the airport, the North Eastern Waste Water Treatment Plant, and we are upgrading the Boomspruit Waste Water Treatment Plant to deal with the demand we are experiencing as a result of the growth of our city.”
The municipality has addressed many of the factors that have affected service delivery and the management of water and is planning ahead for future growth. Part of this development is due to the impressive results it has had with its regeneration projects. This success has, in turn, led to increased demand for a reliable water supply.
“We have had some challenges around our ability to store water for servicing to some of our areas and so we’ve spent the past two years developing two new reservoirs — the Longride Reservoir and the Naval Hill Reservoir,” says Manyoni.
Other projects that continue to ensure the provision of adequate water and sanitation for Mangaung residents include the Longridge Bulk Supply Line, North Eastern Bulk Water Supply and the upgrading of the Maselspoort Low and High Lift Pump Station. In addition to these services, there has been significant progress in eliminating the bucket and ventilation improved pit (VIP) toilet systems in Mangaung, with projects currently running in Botshabelo and Thaba ‘Nchu.
“As part of our water board sanitation programme we have focused on converting these VIPs, buckets and pit latrines into water-borne sanitation,” says Manyoni. “Last year we completed over 3000 of these and our goal is to complete 4000 by July next year.” Mangaung Municipality has three deliverables in place. The first, as outlined above, is to resolve the issues around water borne sanitation, the second is to create a new node in the form of the N8 corridor, and the third is to invest in previously disadvantaged areas and eliminate urban decay. The City has initiated a number of projects around the latter, which have become successful examples of how inner city regeneration can transform an area.
“One of our primary interventions is the greening of our cities and this was driven by the fact that Mangaung, in particular the previously disadvantaged areas, doesn’t have a lot,” says Manyoni. “In Thaba ‘Nchu we are building a regional park. The first phase started last year and the second phase, which will see the inclusion of a number of recreational facilities, will soon follow.”
The placement of an 8m high statue of Nelson Mandela in the nature reserve at Naval Hill is one of the most successful regeneration projects undertaken in the last two years. This statue, considered to be one of the tallest in the world, was set up in the area to promote tourism and uplift the community.
“The Naval Hill Nature Reserve overlooks the city of Bloemfontein and it used to be a much neglected area that experienced high levels of crime,” says Manyoni. “Visitors can now use the new viewing area to appreciate the scenery and they can enjoy the new restaurant we built this year to complement the influx of visitors.”
The project has attracted an impressive number of tourists with 50000 visiting in 2012 and over 130000 between June 2013 and June 2014. The investment in the area has paid off and it is now a popular site for picnics, weddings and religious festivals and celebrations.
This is one of a number of areas in which the Mangaung municipality has invested time, money and effort to mitigate urban decay; another is the Hoffman Square development in the inner city. The area experienced significant decline and has been the focus of a number of upgrades that include roads, sidewalks and repairs.
“The Hoffman Square investment has attracted fresh investment into the city and we’ve even seen some vehicle showrooms appearing along with the refurbishment of old buildings in the centre of Mangaung,” says Manyoni.
The N8 Corridor development along the route of the N8, an arterial road that runs from the east of the Free State through some of the most commonly visited towns and ends at Kimberley in the Northern Cape Province, is another growth area. It is an impressive stretch of space and the Mangaung municipality has highlighted a number of areas where this is to be developed, including the airport. “The N8 corridor development is our biggest project and we started by providing infrastructure, such as the Naval Hill reservoir and the North Eastern Waste Water Treatment Plant. Now that these have been done, the private sector is starting to move in,” says Manyoni. “We now have close to 250 new residential houses that have come up as a result of the N8 development to the airport, and a hospital is currently under construction. We believe that this growth has been brought about as a result of the infrastructure that we have put into place.”
Manyoni doesn’t believe that the opportunities presented by the N8 corridor have been fully realised: “We haven’t maximised the development, but we have tested the market and we have seen the value increase. The cost of land is currently at R700 per square metre, which was unprecedented in our jurisdiction before.”
The budget has been used to drive development, offer communities rich resources within which to grow, and ensure that basic services are modernised and upgraded on a regular basis.
“We are continuing to focus on repairing our decaying infrastructure and are relocating some of the old pipelines under the roads,” adds Manyoni. “Not only is this allowing us to improve the quality of our roads in the inner city, but we are able to now limit the water loss we have been experiencing as a result of old pipes and systems. When we started the project our loss was sitting at 45% and we have managed to reduce that to 30% — it is still high, but our investment is showing real results.”
Mangaung’s revival is a process and the past two years have seen the city experience a noticeable revival as dedicated projects make their mark. The area needed a vision for the future and, now that it has one, it is making impressive strides in achieving its goals.
“It’s a process and what we’ve done over the past two years is to reverse the climate of urban decay, but there is still a lot to be done,” says Manyoni. “As long as we stay focused and continue to invest in the future, we will keep on seeing results.”
This article forms part of a larger supplement which can be found here. The supplement has been made possible by the Mail & Guardian’s advertisers and the content has been signed off by the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality or the advertiser.