“Let’s approach the water challenges in our areas together”
The Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Mrs Edna Molewa MP, has today, Monday 13 August 2012 in Pretoria met with District Mayors from the 23 previously disadvantaged districts identified as priority areas for development and Local government MECs to deliberate on the water services issues and challenges facing the country and to try and find common and lasting solutions to these.
This meeting was also convened to discuss the draft water infrastructure investment framework, the draft national water resources strategy, which has just been approved for gazetting by cabinet and other functionality issues relating to municipal water services.
Minister Molewa says this meeting is a first step towards a coordinated approach to solving the water challenges affecting our municipalities and communities. “There is a growing and disturbing trend of service delivery protests and water tends to be a common denominator for most of these, this is the reason we need a coordinated effort between ourselves as national and local government {COGTA}, human settlements and provinces” she said. “We need to look at the entire value chain of water provision from source to tap in order to identify all the weaknesses within the system and together with all the stakeholders ensure proactive and reactive remedial steps” added Minister Molewa.
Even though the governance framework of government does not readily cater for this kind of forum, given that water is a national competence, the Minister impressed on the Executive Mayors and MECs in the meeting that such a forum was an absolute necessity if the water challenges are to be fully addressed. With regard to water services, the meeting noted that such was a critical and essential economic and social service serving almost 50 million domestic customers across business, industry and domestic sectors on a daily basis.
The meeting also conducted a thorough analysis of functional and risk areas in municipal water services provision looking at institutional and financial management arrangements, operation and maintenance of municipal infrastructure, water resource and wastage issues etc. “we need improvement in the way we conduct business, we need the right attitude and commitment towards service delivery and for this, we must invest adequate levels of skills, expertise and money” said Molewa.
The meeting also dealt with the thorny issue of localities especially in rural areas where communities have had no formal water infrastructure, those requiring extension to existing water infrastructure, those with access to infrastructure but no access to water because of functionality problems and those who have no access because of source problems.
The meeting adopted the strategy and implementation plan to facilitate solutions and provide support and funding to all these areas not catered for by existing projects. This plan, to which all executive mayors have contributed in terms of identification of stressed areas and interventions needed in these, will go a long way providing water to communities that have never had such access” The Minister says all communities in settlements greater than 50 households within the priority areas must receive the interim water supply by June of 2014. “In addition to this, this programme must ensure that all “hot spots” related to water services must be served” she said.
Speaking for the communities around the UMkhanyakude District Municipality, Executive Mayor, Jeffrey Vilane raised the important issue of water sources and infrastructure that does not serve poor communities despite its proximity to the resource. “We live next to the third largest dam in the country but the communities around are not getting the water, we need to work around this and ensure that we correct this situation” he said.
The executive mayors also decried the cost of skills retention in their municipalities. Inadequate Municipal Infrastructure Grant allocations and budget issues, coupled with the rising cost of skilled personnel like engineers and technicians, are impacting negatively on the functionality and capacity to deliver.
On the draft water infrastructure investment framework for South Africa, the meeting agreed that such an analysis was a very good foundational step to understand the infrastructure needs and interventions needed to fulfil the mandate of water provision.
The meeting called on all partners to collaborate and ensure that such an investment framework gets the necessary support and commitment from the sector. They also noted the cabinet approval for gazetting of the National Water Resources Strategy and urged that every effort must be made to ensure that adequate consultation and input is solicited from all corners of the country during the 90 days period.
The meeting concluded by reiterating that such a forum was indeed an important platform for engagement as far as the water issues were concerned. “going forward, we must not lose the momentum of collective engagement, our communities deserve much more than finger pointing but collective decision making and implementation” she concluded.
[NB. For copies of the draft national water resources strategy and the water infrastructure investment framework, visit our website on www.dwa.gov.za ]
For all media enquiries contact:
Mava B Scott
Tel: 012 336 6828
Cell: 082 602 9640
For comments on the strategy contact:
Fred Van Zyl
Tel: 012 336 8812
E-mail: vanzylf@dwa.gov.za
Collaboration is key in resolving water challenges around the country
