CAPE Town - Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu says his department is in the process of planning and implementing a range of major projects to augment national bulk water resource infrastructure.
Mchunu said the department was also in the process of establishing the National Water Resource Infrastructure Agency to finance and implement the large-scale investments that were required to ensure that South Africa has sufficient bulk water supply.
“The use of groundwater, desalination of seawater and rainwater harvesting are also being implemented to address local water requirements,” he said.
Mchunu made the statement when he was responding to parliamentary questions from IFP MP Sbuyiselwe Buthelezi, who had asked about the department’s plans to prevent “Day Zero” in areas most affected by the water crisis.
Buthelezi also asked about the areas the department identified as being the most affected by the water crisis and were likely to have major water and sanitation issues.
Mchunu said his department would strengthen its role in supporting and intervening in municipalities where water and sanitation services were failing in conjunction with provinces, Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department, National Treasury and the South African Local Government Association.
“This will be done in the spirit of co-operative governance in the Constitution to avoid creating inter-governmental conflict,” he said.
Mchunu said areas experiencing water shortages were mostly rural areas in the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and the Northern Cape.
He also said 32% of households in South Africa did not have access to reliable services due to dilapidated infrastructure as well as lack of proper operations and maintenance of existing infrastructure which resulted in disruptions and shortage of water supply.
The minister stated that access to sanitation services was less than 85% in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, North West, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape.
“In the efforts to remedy these challenges, the Department of Water and Sanitation will be submitting a National Sanitation Framework to the Cabinet for approval,” Mchunu said.
Cape Times