Magalies Water Appoints Chief Operations Officer

Rustenburg head-quartered water utility – Magalies Water, has recently appointed  Ofentse Nthutang as its Chief Operations Officer (COO), effective 1st September 2023, for a period of five (5) years. 

This appointment follows, the decision by the Minister of Water and Sanitation Senzo Mchunu, to lift a moratorium on executive appointments in a number of water boards which has been in place for over a year.

Nthutang had occupied the position of General Manager: Engineering Services, prior to his appointment as COO. Prior to joining Magalies Water, Nthutang worked as General Manager: Technical Services at Vhembe District Municipality, Chief Engineer at the National Department of Public Works, Principal Engineer with BIP 

Consulting Engineers, Regional Manager with Ingerop Africa Consulting Engineers, and Engineer with Arup Consulting Engineers. The newly appointed COO is also registered Professional Engineer with Engineering Council of South Africa, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Civil) from the University of the Witwatersrand, a certificate for Investment Analysis and Risk Analysis from Queen’s University in Canada, and he’s currently enrolled for the Master’s in Business Administration with the University of Reading, Henley 

Business School.Reacting to his appointment Nthutang says he is eager, to contribute to Magalies Water’s mandate, he continued “being entrusted to be part of the Executive in an organisation such as Magalies Water, with its history, scale, good reputation, and rich performance culture is a privilege and an honour. I look forward to working with the Board, Executive and the broader Magalies Water team” he said. His immediate task in the short to medium term will be to undertake detailed conditional assessment of the infrastructure inherited from the erstwhile Sedibeng Water to determine gaps for efficiency improvements, organisational structure re-engineering for efficient and effective delivery of bulk water services and conducting of a Water and Sanitation Masterplan for the broader area of supply.

Sandile Mkhize, the entity’s Chief Executive says with the support of the board the organization has been able to move with the necessary speed to fill vacancies at executive levels. He said, immediately after Minister of appointed a substantive board, the moratorium on appointments at executive levels was lifted and this paved the way for the filling of vacancies. Mkhize added “we are now looking forward to ensuring that all positions which were previously vacant, are filled and that the organization stabilizes more at the highest levels of administration. More announcements regarding other positions will be communicated in due course and the full complement of Executives within the organization will enable us to deliver on sustained water supply of the highest quality, an essential service which is referenced in the Constitution of the Republic” he concluded