More than 22000 households in the OR Tambo district municipality were provided with clean, drinkable water between 2011 and 2016.
This was revealed by O R Tambo district mayor Nomakhosazana Meth during her 2017 state of the district address (Soda) at the Mthatha Airport yesterday.
Meth said 214000 (67%) of 320000 households now had access to clean water.
Of the 214000 households, 70620 in the district received free basic water due to their economic position.
Municipal bosses were compiling a project management team to expedite water services to the communities.
She said that several “strategic” regional and bulk schemes were nearing completion, including the Flagstaff water supply scheme built at a cost of R325-million to supply more than 30000 households in Flagstaff and several villages.
The mayor also announced that 79% of households in the district had access to sanitation, while R14-million had been allocated for supporting the upgrading of strategic roads to make the district attractive to outside investors.