State of water and sanitation in Western Cape
The dam levels within Western Cape Water Supply System which consist of 6 largest dams in the province are currently 73,64%, a notable decline compared to 98,08% during this period last year. This is a better yield than the 2017-18 period when the system had a yield below 50%, which sent many water users into a panic.
At an annual meeting held with water users of the Western Cape Town Water Supply System held recently the department took a decision not to impose water restrictions for the current hydrological cycle. However, the department urged all water users to implement water conservation methods and water demand management principles to bring their water demand down with at least 10%.
As the Department, we remain concerned about the Gouritz River Catchment System, which covers the Central Karoo, Little Karoo, and Coastal Belt. Although some areas in this region experienced flash floods last year and this year, the flooding did not result in higher inflows.
All bulk water users including (Residents, industry, and agriculture) should take heed of the call to save water. The weather is unpredictable and hence rainfall and associated run-off to the dams cannot be predicted with any level of confidence.
The Department continues to support Water Service Authorities by disbursing grants to build or upgrade infrastructure to augment water supply. The grants for the current financial year include the multibillion George Portable Water Security and Remedial works and Drakenstein Rehabilitation and upgrade sanitation infrastructure to ensure sustainability and resilience.
As far as regulations are concerned, the Western Cape boasts an excellent performance in the Green Drop assessments of the last financial year and work is continuing to ensure that when these results are released at the end of this financial there is compliance. When the Green Drop Certification Programme was resuscitated in the last financial year, Western Cape municipalities took home 12 out of 21 Green drop awards. A programme is being developed to assist struggling municipalities
Potsdam Wastewater Treatment Works, which pollutes Diepriver, is one of our concerns. As a department, we are working with the City of Cape Town and other affected parties to remedy the situation. To find a long-term solution to this challenge, we call upon all affected and interested parties to work with the government.
A Compliance and Enforcement Blitz was held 2 weeks ago by Breede-Gouritz Catchment Management Agency (BGCMA) and our department in and around Langeberg Local Municipality. Our Departmental Inspectorate, the Blue Scorpions, investigates and cooperates with law enforcement agencies, including courts, to prosecute offenders. Blue Scorpions have a reputation for prosecuting offenders fiercely and imposing hefty fines in some instances. Although we do not intend to profit from water-related crimes, hefty fines are imposed as the last resort.
Despite concerted efforts to curb vandalism of infrastructure, a few individuals continue to destroy our infrastructure, depriving vulnerable citizens of service delivery. Our department in conjunction with the Water Service authorities is embarking on an education awareness campaign to sensitise citizens about the consequences of vandalism of infrastructure. We call upon the citizens to report incidents of vandalism to local authorities and enforcement agencies including the South African Police Service.
The Department is in a quest to forge strategic partnerships and collaborations as per the call of our honourable Minister Senzo Mchunu, as Government alone cannot reverse the backlogs in service delivery which can be attributed to the imbalances of the past.
We wish to remind the Western Cape community that South Africa remains a water scarce country, therefore we need to conserve and value water at all times.
Thank you, media fraternity, for always objectively covering our service delivery initiatives.
“Water is Life, Sanitation is Dignity”
For more information, contact Wisane Mavasa, Spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation on 060 561 8935
