Water woes in local municipalities are due to poor performance and mismanagement, Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu has said, as he lashed out at municipal authorities for failing to deliver safe and quality water and sanitation services to the people.
He said people cannot blame a lack of resources and capacity to perform their duties.
“It is unacceptable to use any excuse to delay the delivery of quality water and safe sanitation,” he said.
The Minister was speaking at the Water Services Authority (WSA) summit in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, in response to the outcomes of the Blue and No Drop Reports and the Green Drop Progress Assessment Report released in December 2023.
The Water Services Authority (WSA) Summit, which kicked off on Thursday, is taking place as clean water supply issues continue to escalate in municipalities across the country.
The two-day event hosted by the department falls at the intermediate sharp end for delivering top-quality services to the people, which included providing clean and safe water and sanitation.
South Africa is under siege with a lack of water supply, while other municipalities are failing to constantly provide clean water to their communities.
Released in December, the Blue Drop report showed a sharp decline in the performance of both the quality of drinking water and wastewater systems, as well as a dramatic increase in non-revenue water and physical water losses.
Of particular concern to the public was the finding that the percentage of drinking water systems with poor or bad microbiological compliance in terms of the South African National Bureau of Standards and World Health Organization standards had increased from 5% in 2014 to 46% in 2023.
During his speech, Mchunu demanded accountability from those who did not want to work and deliver services.
He stated that a lack of accountability and poor performance led to the deaths of 47 people from the 2023 cholera outbreak, which may have been caused by the ongoing pollution of the Apies River by the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works in Hammanskraal, under Tshwane.
Mchunu said it cannot be “business as usual” to address water summits and not come back with solutions to the crisis.
“What change is this summit going to bring? If there is no change, we may as well close the workshop, but if we proceed, it is because there is going to be change,” he said.
He urged the authorities to review their current governance and institutional arrangements for water and sanitation services to ensure that they were working to prevent water delays.
Mchunu also conveyed his condolences to Zimbabwe and families who lost their loved ones in the face of the current cholera outbreak in the country.
IOL