Water and sanitation minister Gugile Nkwinti, this month took off where he left off last year, crisscrossing the country addressing water and sanitation problems that have bedevilled the country for many years.
At a water and sanitation sector crisis meeting in Polokwane recently, he told delegates that the main cause of water shortages and poor sanitation services was a lack of proper project management of these infrastructure-laden services – and not necessarily a lack of funding.
At this meeting, Nkwinti pointed out there was a lack of co-ordination between the various tiers of government responsible for water supplies and sanitation services.
He said the water sector, which comprises municipalities, provincial government departments and the national government, needed to plan together to ensure service delivery could be implemented smoothly.
He cited the issue of budgeting, emphasising municipalities, which are the designated water authorities in their respective areas, should be involved in the budgeting process of the national department of water and sanitation every year.
This is because the national water and sanitation department provides the bulk water supplies to the municipalities who are in turn responsible for water reticulation which involves supplying water to households and industries for consumption and for sanitation.
Nkwinti pointed out that the water and sanitation department was required to support the municipalities because “water is a collective responsibility”.
Nkwinti recently summoned various mayors from municipalities across the country to a water sector meeting in Johannesburg where water and sanitation problems experienced by these various municipalities were discussed and proposed solutions were put forward.
Those at the meeting heard that future water and sanitation infrastructure projects would cater for all the people of the country, including rural villages so as to prevent vandalism of community infrastructure by disgruntled communities who feel left out by government.
The water sector meeting heard that three million people in the country have no access to clean water and that 14.1 million people have no proper sanitation.
In rural areas 77% of the people are indigent and are entitled to free water.
During the devastating drought in the Western Cape, people in Cape Town were forced to use 50 litres of water a day in order to save water, the meeting heard.
In Polokwane, businesses and construction work have been badly affected by water shortages in the city.
The water sector meeting also identified the causes of water shortages as, among others, being theft of water, water pollution, drought, ageing infrastructure, vandalism, and inadequate funding.
Deputy director-general in the national sanitation department Trevor Balzer said there had been a breakdown in integrated planning among the various spheres of government and only by improving their functioning together with the water and sanitation sector institutions could the problems in this sector be solved.
He said the water service delivery master plan targeted 2030 as its deadline in line with the National Development Plan and 2063 African Union goals.
During his budget policy speech in May Nkwinti highlighted this master plan as one of the strategies that he would use to overcome the country’s water and sanitation problems.
Balzer told the water sector meeting the Phakisa Plan would help the department of water and sanitation secure sufficient budget from the Treasury so it could deliver adequate water and sanitation services.
Balzer pointed out while municipalities contributed 76% of the gross domestic product (GDP) they used 27% of the country’s water.
He said the water and sanitation department was rallying municipalities to work with the department to provide an adequate supply of water to both people and industries.
He said however when planning their future water supplies and sanitation services municipalities should take climate change into consideration.
He disclosed that reliability of these services was down to 64%, saying something needed to be done about it.
The meeting also heard municipalities that saved water would be rewarded by the DWS, while those that wasted water would be penalised.
“Society needs to value water,” Balzer emphasised.
He suggested improvement in the functioning of the water and sanitation sector institutions coupled with proper co-ordination among the various government entities could solve the water and sanitation problems.
Municipalities have been urged to identify problems in time and to draw up action plans to address such problems.
Such prompt actions would ensure reliable services – such as providing water every day of the year and would go far towards eliminating the sanitation backlogs in some municipalities.
This should go together with protecting the infrastructure of these municipalities.
The meeting heard most municipalities did not have people in their employ who had the required skills to solve their water problems.
These skills lay, for the most part, with the department of water and sanitation.
There are 20,000 schools located throughout South Africa that lack proper sanitation, those attending the water and sanitation sector meeting were told.
The South African Local Government Association (Salga) complained there was no coherent financing policy applied to local municipalities, district municipalities, provincial government and the national government.
Salga said most municipalities still needed support from the national government.
Salga urged the government to insist that municipalities should have the same by-laws and the same credit control mechanisms as provincial and national government. -- Mtobeli Mxotwa is a director and a spokesperson of the ministry of water & sanitation...