Water and Sanitation Department to review water boards
Minister of Water and Sanitation Senzo Mchunu says the department will review the country’s water boards as part of efforts to improve service delivery.
Sedibeng Water Board, which has relied heavily on department bailouts, is set to be the first on the list.
In 2020, the board received R267 million in temporary relief funding while it was owed more than R5 billion by municipalities.
Mchunu made the announcement in the Northern Cape on Thursday.
"Municipalities complained that they do not have the capacity to deliver water and sanitation services, but they want to,” he said.
“If there is a time to deliver water to households it is 2022 and we are taking steps towards that. We are also reviewing our own legislation in terms of empowering us and making intervention - down to the ground - to make sure the water gets delivered.”
He admitted that the country is struggling to reach a balance between water and sanitation.
"All along we have not been focusing equally on sanitation as we have been doing in the water and now sanitation needs to be upgraded in terms of our attention.
"The main thing is to bring water to households and then in the process, you are able to deal with matters of sanitation.
“At the moment anything in the form of sanitation is apparently doable. We don't commonly have adopted norms and standards that everybody must adhere to and that will be the content of the sanitation framework. We can't go on taking sewer in residential areas for granted.”
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