The Minister of Water and Sanitation, Nomvula Mokonyane plans on having 500 flushing toilets installed in Ficksburg, Free State before the end of this year.

Speaking during a visit to Meqheleng in Ficksburg, Free State, the minister said that the department is in the process of completing the building of 1 500 flushing toilets and 298 of these are already operational.

The minister was in the town recently to monitor service delivery progress on water and sanitation.

She was accompanied by the Free State Member of Executive Council (MEC) for Police, Road and Transport, Butana Komphela and three Mayors who reaffirmed their support for planned and ongoing water and sanitation projects rolled out in the area.

According to Mokonyane it is evident that there has been great progress in the past few years. Some of the interventions include the replacement of the aged bulk water infrastructure that resulted in unreliable water supply, doubling the capacity of a Water Treatment Plant from 16 megalitres to 32 megalitres per day, laying a dedicated pipeline to supply Meqheleng and ensuring minimal disruption in water supply which has been augmented with the completion of a 10 megalitres reservoir to enable additional storage of water.

In addition to these interventions the department has also ensured the release of water from the Katse Dam in Lesotho via the Caledon River to supply the Dihlabeng, Naledi, Setsoto, Mantsopa, and Mohokare Local Municipalities, as well as the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality.

This effort is aimed at mitigating the effects of drought in the area.