Remarks for the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Mr Senzo Mchunu at the media briefing with Rand Water

A very good afternoon to:

Advocate Hashatse, Chairperson of the Rand Water Board, Mr Sipho Mosai, the Chief Executive of Rand Water,

Members of the media here today and those connected on the various platforms

Citizens of the Republic of South Africa, Thank you for honouring our invite.

We are drawing closer to the end of Water month – but our commitment to delivering water and sanitation services to the citizens of the Republic is without end.

Whilst we continue to face challenges brought on by drought, climate change, corruption and South Africa being a water scare country, we as the Department of Water and Sanitation, along with our entities, are hard at work in ensuring that there is a constant supply of water – even amidst all these challenges.

Now, given that we deal with infrastructure that sees to different functions, and also handles different matter, maintenance in respect of same is necessary.

There is unfortunately no opportune time to carry out maintenance of pipelines or water infrastructure. Water is a commodity which needs to be in continuous supply but in order to ensure longevity of this supply, maintenance is a necessity.

Water is a sensitive matter, discussing issues surrounding the delivery of water gets emotional at times.

It is rather unfortunate that water is sometimes politicised.

As Government, we have a duty to fulfil obligations as per the Constitution.

Whilst we are elected into office following a democratic process, our service is not politicised – we strive to provide water and sanitation services to each and every citizen in the country – regardless of their race, gender and political affiliation.

One of the key challenges we observed during our working sessions in the country, and which was further cited by Mayors, was ageing / aged infrastructure.

This is due to unmaintained pipelines and other infrastructure, which further results in loss of water and lack of provision of water to citizens.

It is quite surprising that when Rand Water plans on maintaining its infrastructure, same is considered to be an inconvenience.

Now, as you have heard, there is no truth that Rand Water’s communication is poor – in respect of its planned maintenance. Over and above communicating with municipalities, the entity also issues communique to citizens via its website and social media platforms. The communique is further issued timeously so as to ensure that municipalities and citizens prepare accordingly.

Seemingly, Rand Water is being chastised for carrying out its duties, purely because the activities lead to temporary unavailability of water.

It cannot be that both municipalities and water entities are plagued by inoperative infrastructure due to non-maintenance.

Further to this, another reason for Rand Water to engage with municipalities is to ensure that municipalities make alternative provisions for water supply, through water tankers – this is not an obligation which rests with the entity.

Chapter 7 of the Constitution contains provisions applicable to ‘local government’.

Section 152 outlines the objects of local government and provides amongst others that, local government is responsible to ensure the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner and promote a safe and healthy environment.

It is high time that we hold municipalities accountable for their failures and not skirt off their responsibilities to national government.

I want to address one other aspect which merely indicates that Mr Msimanga has no knowledge of what he speaks of. Rand Water has advised that all its plants are national key points – it begs the question as to which plant the Honourable Msimanga went to go inspect and he was granted access!

As we near the end of Water Month, we as the Department of Water and Sanitation, want to thank you, the citizens of the Republic of South for playing your part. Thank you for your understanding support and patience.

We are not oblivious to the fact that there are still citizens in the country who have never had access to water and sanitation services and we are dedicated in addressing and correcting this.

As the Department of Water and Sanitation and its entities, we remain ready and willing to assist provincial and local government in realising the constitutionally entrenched rights to access to water and a heathy environment for the citizens.

Thank you.

Source: Government of South Africa