MAGALIES WATER MANDATE

Magalies Water Board was established in 1969 in terms of Government Notice 234 of 1969 primarily to supply water needs of platinum mines in the Rustenburg and Thabazimbi areas. Magalies Water provides water for industries and communities, and in 1996 it extended its water supply services to operate, maintain and supply retail water to select local municipalities and the City of Tshwane Metropolitan. Subsequent negotiations with Rand Water in 1999, the company expanded the Vaalkop Water Treatment Works to meet the demand of rapidly increasing water needs of the Rustenburg region. In 2003, Magalies Water Board took a strategic decision to explore retail water operations and maintenance as part of its secondary obligations, following the promulgation of the Municipal Structures Act and Municipal Systems Act.

Its mandate was further reinforced and extended by Section 29 (s29) and Section 30 (s30) of the Water Services Act, (Act 108), promulgated in 1997. In this regards its purpose as a Water Board is to:

  • Provide water services to other water services institutions within its service area (s29). Raw water is obtained through various intermediaries (e.g., Dams, mining associated sources, etc.)
  • Provide any activities, other than its primary activity, provided that it does not prejudice itself, any water services institution, existing consumers and other users serviced by it within its service area (s30). Activities may include, but are not limited to:
    • Providing management services, training and other support services to water services institutions, in order to promote cooperation in the provision of water services.
    • Supplying untreated or non-potable water to end users who do not use the water for household purposes.
    • Providing catchment management services to or on behalf of the responsible authorities.
    • With the approval of the water services authority having jurisdiction in the area, supplying water directly for industrial use; accepting industrial effluent and acting as a water services provider to consumers.
    • Providing water services in a joint venture with water services authorities; and
    • Performing water conservation functions

Magalies Water’s area of supply is linked to two (2) major catchments via. the Crocodile and the Pienaars Rivers. Its service area covers 42 000 km² across the three (3) provinces of North West, Limpopo and Gauteng, within the major catchments of the Crocodile and the Pienaars rivers.

TRANSFORMATION

In 1983 the company’s board discerned that it was accurate and appealing that the company gears into a new dimension thus name changing from Vaalkop Water Board to Magalies Water Board, was one major conducive element that would hinge with the on-going company strategies.