A R2.7-billion Vaal River project that will deliver water to power stations and industries as far afield as Mpumalanga was opened in Vanderbijlpark, south of Johannesburg, on Wednesday.

The Vaal River Eastern Subsystem Augmentation Project was opened at a ceremony at the Vaal Marina by Water Affairs Minister Lindiwe Hendricks. She was accompanied by Eskom and Sasol representatives, according to a statement issued by her department.

The project, approved in 2004, would supply water to Eskom's power stations and to Sasol in Mpumalanga via a 121km-long pipeline from Gauteng.

Hendricks was pleased that women-owned companies Mpumalanga, as well as in Rustenburg, Pretoria, Soweto and Ekurhuleni benefited from the project. They were trained and tasked with installing air valve chambers. Some residents living along the route of the pipeline were given work. A total of 1685 jobs were created.

"In addition this project contributed significantly to the achievement of government's objectives for promoting broad based black economic empowerment," Hendricks was quoted as saying in the statement.

She added that the project also involved rescuing endangered plants, rehabilitating roads, dust control and revamping quarries.