In a continued effort to enhance the delivery of water, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has reinforced its commitment to monitor work being carried out by its entities in communities affected by water shortages.

Speaking during a recent Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Portfolio Committee meeting, the department’s acting Director-General, Deborah Mochotlhi, said water entities contribute to government’s objective of reducing inequality through access to water supply and job creation, leveraging additional investments for infrastructure development, as well as enabling rural communities to use water for rural livelihoods.

“Water entities are key in assisting the government, particularly the Department of Water and Sanitation, in supplying the most important need which is water,” Mochotlhi said.

Mochotlhi said the audit outcomes of most water entities have significantly improved over the last three years, but expressed concern over some entities which still need to improve.

“Mhlathuze and Magalies Water Boards have received unqualified audit outcomes with no findings while Overberg, Bloem, Lepelle, Umgeni and Rand Water received unqualified audit outcomes with findings for the 2019/20 financial year.

“While there are a number of areas for concern and specific institutional challenges that are being addressed, the overall performance of water boards during the 2019/20 reporting period has been generally satisfactory,” Mochotlhi said.

Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu congratulated those water boards with clean audit outcomes and called for progress on all the others which still have to work towards improving their annual reporting.

“Overall, our water boards have delivered on their mandate and provided appropriate levels of assurance of supply and quality of water and services delivered to municipalities and other key customers.

“In doing so, these important and strategic entities contributed positively to the government’s broad socio-economic development agenda,” Sisulu said.

Source: South African Government News Agency