Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu says the maintenance and development of water infrastructure is crucial to expanding access to all South Africans across the board.
“Our political guidance and direction is premised on government’s Programme of Action, which drives all our efforts to respond to and carry out the needs and desires of South Africans,” Sisulu said.
She underscored the importance of improving the delivery of decent sanitation by exploring the use of innovative technologies.
Addressing the department’s two-day strategic planning session held in Pretoria on Tuesday, Sisulu said the planning terrain for the 2020/21 medium term has been intensified and includes the department’s entities.
“The department sets the agenda and identifies key projects for the State-owned companies and entities to implement over a defined period. These interventions are essential for growth and sustained service delivery to a growing populace and demand,” Sisulu said.
She said South Africa has been facing difficulties since the global financial crisis in 2008. However, the country has embarked on an aggressive infrastructure development programme to stimulate growth, led by the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission.
Faced with domestic factors, including constrained electricity and industrial relations, Sisulu said her department has a constitutional responsibility to deliver basic services to the people.
“It’s important to recall that due to the fact that the department had accruals in the last few years, it is necessary to review the strategic plan in order to align the annual performance plan (APP) targets with the available budget,” said the Minister.
She reiterated that her department will continue to find cost effective ways of realising its mandate within the allocated budget.
“[We] all have to work hard to turn the economy around and to reduce wastage. This belt-tightening exercise will require everyone to go through a difficult period until the economy recovers,” the Minister said.
Rural communities urged to harvest rain water
The Department of Water and Sanitation has appealed to rural communities, who don’t have access to potable water, to take the opportunity of harvesting rain water during summer to sustain them through dry conditions.
The department said that this week’s torrential rains have slightly improved the country’s water situation, increasing Eastern Cape dam levels by almost 2%, while the country’s average dam levels went up from 62.2% to 62.6%.
“For the past four years, vast parts of the Eastern Cape have been experiencing severe dry conditions, which left many water users struggling to access water for basic use. However, the recent rains have brought some relief for many communities, especially the rural populace that harvested as much water as it could from the rains,” the department said in its latest weekly report on dam levels.
With more rains predicted for next week, the department said it is expected that South Africa’s dam levels will improve exponentially in the run-up to the festive season, when parts of the country will experience flash floods.
However, the department has urged water users to continue saving water, as the country is not out of the woods.
Gauteng, whose main supplier is Vaal Dam, experienced a 1% increase in its dam levels from 90.8% to 91.7% this week, with Free State dams also increasing from 71.6% last week to 72.1%.
The rain in the Northern Cape has also had a positive impact, as the province’s dam levels increased from 89.5% to 90.1% this week.
However, the department noted that as the Western Cape approaches its hydrological season of winter rains at the end of November, the province’s dam levels have begun a marginal downward slide week-on-week. Provincial dam levels have dropped from 80% to 79.5% this week.
Other provinces that benefitted from the heavy rains are KwaZulu-Natal and the North West. Dam levels in KwaZulu-Natal have increased from 52.7% to 53.3%, while North West dams increased marginally from 62.5% to 63.2%.
“Mpumalanga and Limpopo levels dropped by an average 1%. The situation remains dire in the Mopani region where the big three dams – Tzaneen, Middel-Letaba and Modjadji hover below 10%,” the department said. – SAnews.gov.za
Alan Straton
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