The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has called on the public to submit written comments on the Draft Water and Sanitation Services Policy on Privately Owned Land, which aims to ensure the provision of water and sanitation services to people living on privately owned land.
The department said the current draft policy is a culmination of the work done in 2011 when the department developed a draft water and sanitation services policy on privately owned land.
However, at the time, the policy was never finalised, and the approval processes of the policy were never ascertained.
The department said in a statement that the latest policy development is in response to the 2017 Court Case of Mshengu vs uMsunduzi, uMshwathi Local Municipalities, uMgungundlovu District Municipality and others, including DWS as the sixth respondent.
The land rights-based NGO Association for Rural Advancement (AFRA) representing Mshengu and Ngema took the uMsunduzi Local Municipality to court for failing to provide basic services to farm dwellers.
“The court judgement declared that the failure by uMsunduzi Local Municipality, uMshwathi Local Municipality and uMgungundlovu District Municipality to provide farm occupiers and labour tenants who are living in their area of jurisdiction with access to basic sanitation, sufficient water and collection of refuse is inconsistent with the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, particularly Section 9, 10, 24, 27(1)(b), 33, 152, 153, 195 and 237,” the department said.
With the court judgment the department is compelled to revive and revise the draft policy to provide a policy framework on how to deal with the provision of water and sanitation services to people living on privately owned land.
“The Draft Water and Sanitation Services Policy on Privately Owned Land expands and operationalises chapter V (5) of the Water Services Act (Act No. 108 of 1997), which discusses water services intermediaries,” the department noted.
During the development stages of the draft policy, affected municipalities were consulted to do a bottom-up approach in the development of the policy.
Various other government departments, including Employment and Labour, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Human Settlements, Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Forestry, Fisheries and Environment, Mineral Resources and Energy, Basic Education, and National Treasury in the Finance Department, were consulted and provided their comments on the draft policy.
Other organisations, including South African Local Government Association, and Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent, were also consulted.
“The Minister of Water and Sanitation Minister approved the Draft Water and Sanitation Services Policy on Privately Owned Land to be gazetted for public consultations. The Draft Policy has been gazetted through the Government Printers Gazette Notice: 47558 on 22 of November 2022.
“The Department of Water and Sanitation is undertaking comprehensive stakeholder consultations on the Draft Water and Sanitation Services Policy on Privately Owned Land for 60 days and calls the public to submit their written comments within the gazette period,” the department said.
Written inputs can be submitted to WSPolicy@dws.gov.za. Enquiries regarding the draft policy can be directed to Luvuyo Jalisa at JalisaL@dws.gov.za or Itani Tshihatu at TshihatuI@dws.gov.za.
Source: South African Government News Agency