By REGINALD KANYANE
18 September 2025- As part of Heritage Month commemoration, the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina, will hand over the World Heritage Irrigation Structure (WHIS) Award to the Orange-Vaal Water Users Association, and the newly refurbished Douglas Water Treatment Works (WTW) to Siyancuma Local Municipality, in the ZF Mgcawu District Municipality, Northern Cape on Thursday.
Majodina spokesperson, Cornelius Monama said the WHIS award is a prestigious designation given to historic irrigation structures by the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), and it recognises the cultural, historical, and technological significance of these structures. Monama said the Douglas Weir, a 134-year-old engineering marvel that pioneered irrigation-led rural development in the Northern Cape was recognised as a World Heritage Irrigation Structure by the ICID.
“It was nominated by the South African National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (SANCID), and the award was accepted on behalf of the committee by ICID Vice-President and SANCID Chair, Prof Sylvester Mpandeli last September at the 9th Asian Regional Conference of ICID in Sydney, Australia.
“Since then, the weir, located at the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers in Douglas and regarded as the world’s oldest, has been included in the ICID Register of World Heritage Structures,” he said.
Monama further said a weir is a barrier across the width of a body of water that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. He added that weirs are used to control the flow of water for rivers and other water resource structures.
“This is the first time that a South African irrigation structure has received the award since the inception of the WHIS recognition category in 2012. The award will be officially handed to the Orange-Vaal Water Users Association responsible for managing the infrastructure.
“Majodina will thereafter hand over a refurbished Douglas Water Treatment Works also located near the confluence of Vaal and Orange River, which serves as raw water abstraction supply points for water purification and supply to the town and surroundings,” said Monama.
He said the existing purification plant was not operating efficiently as it had exceeded its 30-year design life cycle, and it therefore needed an urgent refurbishment. Monama said the R28 million revitalisation project scope entailed the refurbishment of the water purification plant, the general rehabilitation work of the plant and the installation of a 200KVA emergency generator.
“The plant will filter a total capacity of 4 273 cubic metres per day of purified water to the population of 22 180 persons residing in 4 704 households within the area of Douglas.
“Following the handover of the WHIS Award and the WTW, the Minister will have a community engagement with the local residents, and later conduct an oversight visit at Douglas Weir,” he said.
Monama said Majodina will be joined by the Chairperson of Water Research Commission (WRC), Dr Rethabile Melamu as well as the Chief Executive Officer of the Orange-Vaal Water Users Association, Mr Peter Joseph.
The Guardian 