The safety of state dams is assured

The Department of Water and Sanitation takes responsibility for the operations and maintenance of 324 large state dams which form an integral part of the water resource management in South Africa. These dams serve as primary sources for 231 government water schemes that supply water for various water uses, including food production, energy generation, and domestic and industrial.

The Dam Safety Office, which serves as a regulator of dams in South Africa, reported that of the top 20 largest state dams, only 2 complied 100% with Dam Safety Regulations. The shortcoming identified is that these structures' 5 yearly dam safety evaluations are overdue.

Dam Safety Evaluations are required to be conducted by an Approved Professional Person (APP), over and above the quarterly and annual inspections conducted by the operational engineering staff.

The Department has augmented its internal APP capacity through outsourcing and has set the target to finalize 25 safety evaluations by the end of March 2023. This will include the outstanding top 20 dams. This additional capacity will assist to improve the 5 yearly compliance at all state dams under the responsibility of the Department.

The annual inspections inform the maintenance plans for the various government water schemes. In this regard, the Department augmented its maintenance capacity with the appointment of 16 CIDB Grade 7 mechanical and electrical maintenance contractors.

In addition to general maintenance, the Department also invests in a Dam Safety Rehabilitation programme which was established in 2006 to ensure that the lifespan of dam structures is prolonged and to improve the safety of these structures. Since its inception, rehabilitation at 43 dams were completed. Currently, there are 5 dam safety rehabilitation projects underway with 19 projects in the design phase.