The Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation welcomes progress made regarding the eradication of the bucket system as a form of sanitation. The Committee is convinced by plans in place to eradicate this abhorrent system and will strengthen its oversight role by continually monitoring the implementation of the programme.
Today, the Committee received a presentation from the Department of Water and Sanitation that highlighted that the programme seeks to eradicate the bucket system in formal areas at an estimated cost of R975 million.
This will cover an estimated 88 127 households countrywide. Furthermore, the Committee welcomes the reassurance by the department that the total eradication of the bucket system in formal areas will be attained.
“The Committee has always maintained that the use of the bucket system remains unacceptable, strips people of their dignity and contradicts prescripts of the Water Services Act. It is thus welcomed that the department is well underway to eradicate the bucket system within formal areas,” said Mr Mlungisi Johnson, the Chairperson of the Committee.
Despite this, the Committee remains concerned by the high number of households in informal settlements that continue to utilise the bucket system. The department highlighted that there is an estimated 140 000 households in informal settlements that are utilising this system.
The Committee is cognisant of the challenges such as urban migration, availability of bulk infrastructure to service projects, as well as decreasing funding that continue to put extra burden on the delivery of services especially to informal settlements. The Committee is of the view that an integrated governmental approach is necessary to circumvent these challenges.
The Committee urges the department to improve its working relationship with other government departments such as the Department of Human Settlements, Rural Development and Land Reform, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Education and the National Treasury to find workable solutions to these challenges.
Furthermore, the Committee called for the alignment and maximisation of various grants such as the Municipal Infrastructure Grant and Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant that are available to deal with issues of water and sanitation. The alignment and maximisation of these grants will mitigate against unused funds being returned to the fiscus.
The Committee has resolved to prioritise its oversight on the eradication of bucket system to ensure that dignity is restored for people still using the system.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact:
Malatswa Evans Molepo
Tel: 021 403 8438
Cell: 081 512 7920
E-mail: mmolepo@parliament.gov.za
