CAPE TOWN - International environmental organisation Greenpeace Africa has launched a petition calling on South African president Cyril Ramaphosa to put water at the centre of all government decision-making, this as it emerged on Wednesday that the country's water and sanitation department had run up R6.4 billion in irregular expenditure.
The Auditor-General reported to parliament on Wednesday that irregular expenditure at the department had rocketed from R4 billion to R6.4 billion.
In response to the development, Greenpeace Africa senior climate and energy campaign manager Melita Steele said: “The massive irregular expenditure at the department of water and sanitation is just one more reason for water to become central to all government decision-making. In the face of devastating water scarcity and one of the worst droughts in living memory, it can no longer be one department’s responsibility to ensure that water is adequately managed in South Africa.”
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Steele added that Greenpeace Africa believed that water was a fundamental human right and which people could not live without it, “and we must make sure that people’s right to water is put first and protected”.