Ensuring our water stays safe and clean, Ntombizanele Bila-Mupariwa, Western Cape Provincial Head of the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), visited Oudtshoorn Local Municipality on 21 October to oversee the Process Controllers’ Training programme.
Participating municipalities, which include Oudtshoorn, Kannaland, Laingsburg, and Beaufort, are set to benefit from the upskilling of these critical water professionals.
The visit assessed progress in training, identified areas for improvement, and gauged the programme’s effectiveness in helping municipalities comply with newly promulgated regulations.
The pilot programme, launched earlier this year by DWS with the support of EWSETA and the CSIR, trains 183 Process Controllers from 20 municipalities across the Western Cape.
Funded to the amount of R1,6-million, the accredited training leads to qualifications at NQF levels 3 and 4, allowing participants to register as professional Process Controllers.
Process Controllers are at the heart of keeping our taps flowing with safe, clean water and ensuring wastewater is properly treated.
They essentially run the water and wastewater treatment plants across the country by monitoring, operating and managing all the required processes. Once considered low-skilled workers, they are now being trained and registered as professionals, raising standards and improving public safety across municipalities.
By upskilling these operators, the programme aims to reduce errors in water treatment, improve plant efficiency, and boost response times to infrastructure challenges.
With 11 Process Controllers from this region undergoing the programme, communities can look forward to improved water quality, safer drinking water, and greater confidence in the water they rely on every day.
Clean water starts with skilled workers
Photos: Granwille Goliath