Metsi Ke Bophelo Issue 1 - March/April 2011 In this issue 2 Editorial note 9 Sedibeng Water capacitates municipalities 3 Upcoming events 10 Employees introduced toAARTOAct 3 Long service awards 11 Sedibeng Water receives accolades 4-5 Aworld first for Sedibeng Water 12 Incident investigation training 6 Sedibeng Water sponsors river clean-up campaign 12 New vehicles for the North West Region 6 Sedibeng Water adopts Mothibistad Park 13 MDP students graduate 7 Vandalism 14 Mmamokua retires after 28 years 8 Training course for secretaries and personal assistants presented 15-16 Staff profiles Editorial note Steering through the storm The editorial team welcomes you to 2011, as well as to our term viability and sustainability. Financial stability and first issue of Metsi Ke Bophelo for the year – we are proud to sustainability is not Sedibeng Water's only measure of be part of this organisation and look forward to a productive success. year of achievements for all. Our financial results make it possible to grow and maintain During 2010 Sedibeng Water made its mark in many our operations, while also caring for the environment respects. An independent customer survey indicated that before giving clean water supply and hygienic living we maintained customer satisfaction levels of 80,4% and conditions to even the poorest of the poor! 78,3% amongst our retail and bulk customers respectively. We are also assisting in the implementation of the Blue In addition, Sedibeng Water has once again been Drop programme - we offer training to municipal staff acknowledged when we recently received the Diamond responsible for Blue Drop functions. and Golden Arrow Awards for being the best water services provider in Free State and Northern Cape Provinces We deploy water quality experts to assist with almost all respectively. These achievements do not come without municipal assessments and provide essential information hard work and support from all the staff! and support to the municipalities. Our Acting Chief Executive, Mr RT Takalani, took over the Teamworkwas a critical factor for organisational success in reigns under very difficult circumstances. The global 2010. In real life Sedibeng Water as an entity cannot exist, economic crisis was taking its toll in the water services grow or prosper in isolation from its employees because, sector, cost-recovery became the biggest challenge and like any other organisation, Sedibeng Water is a collection many municipalities needed assistance in delivering water of individuals interacting with one another. This enabled us services. to achieve our shared objectives. Government's broader agenda became more demanding, All these achievements would not have been possible while the expectations of communities rose. There was without teamwork by the Acting Chief Executive, Senior much uncertainty about our future. Managers, supervisors and all the employees. Therefore, the editorial team would like to thank you all for your During difficult circumstances all contributions, dedication and hard work as a group during employees at Sedibeng Water the past year. proved to be leaders, who can keep their cool in the face of We are looking forward to an even more successful 2011. adversity. Sedibeng Water's achievements show that we Some highligts in this issue include a world first for are still on the right track. Sedibeng Water at the Vaal Gamagara Water Scheme, long service awards, training for our secretaries and We continue to outperform personal assistants and the graduation of students in the our financial targets and our Management Development Programme. consolidated profit increased by 33,9% to R44,3 million last year. We can therefore expand our services to those in Editorial Team: Ndoyisile Alfred Theys, need. Merafe Isaac Legalamitlwa and Mosala David Maleke Our financial performance and an unqualified audit report, All the best for 2011 show that we are solidly on route to long 2 Upcoming events National Water Week 2011 Third Municipal Drinking Water Quality Conference National Water Week 2011 will be celebrated from 21-27 The third Municipal Drinking Water Quality Conference will March 2011. The theme for 2011 is “Working together we be held from 28 – 30 June in Cape Town. This conference can save more water.” Water Week 2011 will coincide with seeks to present all stakeholders with a platform to share both Human Rights Day celebrations and the United Nation practical ways of treating and managing Drinking Water hosting of the World Water Day in SouthAfrica (Cape Town) Quality from source to tap. on 22 March 2011. Long service awards Sedibeng Water honoured its long serving employees at glittering functions across the regions. The Northern Cape event was held on 26 November 2010, Virginia followed on 14 December 2010, Balkfontein celebrated on 15 December 2010 and the North West Region on 11 February 2011. Sedibeng Water paid tribute to those who have served the organisation for ten, fifteen and twenty years. Speaking during the North West event in Hartswater, Mr Toto Molobye, Human Resource Manager said: “Sedibeng Water has created an enabling environment in the workplace as people spent most of their time at work. Employees have also been empowered by opportunities for development.” Mr Rembuluwani Takalani,Acting Chief Executive, told the audience that he was honoured to stand in front of a group of people who epitomise loyalty, steadfastness and commitment. He also emphasised that Sedibeng Water was fortunate to have employees who have spent their lifetime rendering service to communities. Mr Takalani told the recipients that they have achieved their success because of team work. “When we apply this truth to Sedibeng Water and our unique working environment, it is evident that individual achievement must always be seen within the scope of collective achievement. Being part of a team allows us to excel when it comes to realising our personal goals.” Mr Takalani thanked the recipients for their loyalty and commitment to Sedibeng Water with many years of continuous service. “Every member, irrespective of duties and responsibilities, has an indispensable contribution to make. We value and salute you, you have all contributed towards making Sedibeng Water bigger and better.” He went on to say “this is a guiding principle that we must adhere to, once team members understand the importance of what they do, they will be much more effective in doing it.” 3 A world first for Sedibeng Water Sedibeng Water made headlines in July 2002 with the Access into the pipeline is at existing air valves or specially ground-breaking installation of the world’s largest prepared connection stubs. The under-pressure insertion limestone contactor at Fika Patso, Qwa-Qwa. Now we was achieved by removing the air valve and fitting a have achieved another world first: performing CCTV specially fabricated flange and an insertion tube on top of pipeline inspections under live conditions at the Vaal the gate valve. The camera head, inspection cable and Gamagara Water Scheme in the Northern Cape. parachute are then deployed under-pressure through the insertion tube into the pipeline while the pipeline remains SSIS Sahara (Pty) Ltd, in conjunction with Sedibeng Water, in service. The flow of water opens the parachute and conducted these inspections using a revolutionary new provides the necessary drag to pull the camera and cable CCTV video inspection system. along the pipeline. How does it all work? Water is abstracted from the Vaal River and treated near Delportshoop (about 60 km west of Kimberley) before being piped as far as Hotazel and Blackrock in the North. The scheme consists of more than 300km of bulk steel water pipelines and fulfils an important role in supplying potable water to towns, settlements and mines in the Northern Cape. Why did it happen? Sedibeng Water commissioned a master planning study to assess future upgrading and expansion requirements. Assessing the existing pipeline infrastructure, which is up to 30 years old, formed an important part of the Figure 2: Typical site showing inspection vehicle, insertion investigation. Apart from assessing the corrosion potential tube and winch assembly and external coating integrity, we also needed to perform internal visual inspections on the pipelines. Due to the high water demand on the scheme, the pipelines could not be taken out of service for any length of time, so inspections had to take place under live operating conditions. What is Live CCTV Video Inspection Technology? The Sahara® CCTV platform was developed specifically for use when inspections are performed under live operating conditions, and therefore suited this application perfectly. The CCTV camera is inserted into a live pipeline through a standard 50 mm diameter or larger opening, usually at air valve installations and is pulled by the flow of the water, transmitting real-time video images from inside the pipeline. 4 Figure 1: Sahara CCTV System Setup and Components Figure 3: CCTV Camera Head and Parachute Assembly >> continue to page 5 << continued from page 4 The speed and direction of the camera are controlled from inside the inspection vehicle by a hydraulically operated cable drum and winch fitted on top of the insertion tube. This allows the operator to scan backwards and forwards and record the images to a hard drive and DVD. The camera head is tracked on the surface to accurately locate any anomalies detected. Severe blistering of the pipe lining Pipe joint corrosion What did we find? The purpose of the Vaal Gamagara inspection was to find Apart from observations of normal bio-film growth inside out the internal condition of a number of selected pipe the pipelines, the following findings were documented: sections, to help in the decision making process regarding the future of the scheme. Sedibeng Water identified 14 · gate valve condition and riser stub corrosion and inspection positions, 12 of the sites, totalling 4.2 km of tuberculoses; pipeline, were successfully inspected.