Service Delivery

Access to Essential Services

The Municipality deliver all essential services in Williston, Fraserburg and Sutherland.

• All households have access to water.
• All households have access to sanitation.
• All households have access to electricity.
• All households have access to refuse removal.

The Municipality deliver services to all registered indigent households as well.

Water Provision

The Municipality is dependent on underground water resources and a system of borehole pumps and pipelines are in place to feed the reservoirs in the three towns from where it is further reticulated to all households.

Waste Water (Sanitation) Provision

• All households in the Karoo Hoogland Municipal area have access to basic sanitation.
• Some of the erven in all three towns are connected to a waterborne sewerage system.
• Some erven are still equipped with sewerage drains and the sewerage are removed with sewerage removal vehicles.
• Most of the dry sanitation toilets in Williston and Fraserburg have been eradicated. The balance of the erven in Sutherland still has dry sanitation toilets, which are also serviced by the municipality.
• After the water situation have been addressed, the sanitation will receive attention.
• All three towns have oxidation ponds.

The following projects formed part of the multiyear strategic projects in the IDP.

• Eradication of UDS Toilets (389 households remaining)
• Installation of full waterborne sewer system
• To ensure proper operation and maintenance of existing infrastructure and equipment
• Replace individual septic tanks with full waterborne sewer system
• Reduce municipal capital and maintenance costs by removing suction trucks
• Upgrading of oxidation ponds (completed)
• Upgrading of the waste water treatment works

Electricity Provision

Karoo Hoogland Municipality is one of only a few municipalities who do NOT owe ESKOM any outstanding money and who pay ESKOM’s account regularly.

The Municipality supplies electricity to Fraserburg and part of Williston. The other part of Williston as well as Sutherland and the rural areas are serviced by ESKOM.

Waste Management

The Municipality does not have a Waste management Plan in place; however, this has been identified as a future project. However the Municipality has an Integrated Waste Management Plan 2014/2018 in place which was compiled by the District Municipality. The Municipality has a refuse removal team in each of the three towns. These teams are responsible for the removal of domestic as well as business refuse. The teams each comprises of a tractor driver and general workers and the refuse are collected manually and transported to the landfill sites in each town. Black bags are available to the public at the municipality in which refuse must be placed for removal. The municipality must ensure proper operation and maintenance of existing infrastructure and equipment through licensing and upgrading of landfill sites.

Waste water Storm water Drainage

Storm water drainage forms an integral part of road infrastructure. Due to the fact that the road infrastructure in the three towns is not up to standard it results in poor storm water drainage during times of heavy rain. The maintenance and construction of storm water structures will only be addressed once the municipality receives funds for the upgrading of its road infrastructure.

Transport

Transport is not a function of the Municipality, however, there is potential to expand this industry, particularly the provision of public transport through economic development. The majority of the Karoo Hoogland Local Municipality’s population (82.3%) travel to school or to work by foot. Around 6.7% of the Karoo Hoogland population make use of public transport (i.e. the bus, train, taxi, or lifts with other people); while 1.6% make use of bicycles and 9.4% use their own private transport. Donkeys and horses as well as donkey/horse carts are also widely used in the area.
Significant portions of Karoo Hoogland’s population are living in small, dispersed settlements and have limited transport capacity to travel the often significant distances between urban centres.

As many of these households are also living in poverty, the lack of transport adds to the so-called “poverty trap”, as these people are less able to conduct, for example, informal activities to alleviate their circumstances.

Roads

Williston, Fraserburg and Sutherland have tar roads and gravel roads. The Municipality must submit projects to MIG for the upgrading of roads regularly. The tar roads are currently in a poor condition with potholes occurring all over the roads. The Municipality endeavors to arrange training for its personnel to repair potholes and also purchase the necessary equipment and material to do the work in the future.

The Municipality however does not have the financial capacity to budget for the repair of all the potholes. The Municipality will have to seriously consider resealing most of the tar roads in the future before it become lapidated.