The Sol Plaatjie municipality's oversight of the R2.5 Billion Riverton Water Treatment Works yesterday, Executive Mayor Martha Bartlett says the municipality is finally emerging from years of disruption and moving towards greater stability in one of the Northern Cape’s most significant infrastructure investments.

Speaking to Journal News Network after the visit, Bartlett said political turbulence had previously affected service delivery and created frustration among residents who are paying for services but not always receiving them.

“Where there is no stability, there can be no service delivery,” Bartlett said, reflecting on periods marked by protests, labour unrest, and governance disruptions.

During the oversight, Premier Zamani Soul used the visit to call for political maturity and institutional stability, warning that internal conflict threatens the municipality’s ability to deliver on critical infrastructure programmes. 

According to Bartlett, more than R1.1 billion has already been spent on the project, with implementation remaining on schedule. 

She described the water intervention as one of the municipality’s most important infrastructure programmes, saying interruptions could derail years of progress.

Bartlett also acknowledged the great concerns about youth unemployment. While local employment opportunities have been created through infrastructure projects, she stressed that long-term benefits would depend on skills development.

“We want our young people to become the engineers and technical specialists of tomorrow, not only temporary workers,” she said.