Government lays the blame for South Africa’s water problems
Water and Sanitation Minister, Senzo Mchunu, has appealed to local authorities to prioritise the maintenance of water infrastructure in their area of operation to improve uninterrupted water supply to communities.
Mchunu said this during a joint Imbizo held at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi on Wednesday.
The imbizo, which was an initiative of all spheres of government and attended by eThekwini Municipality Mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda, and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Bongi Sithole-Moloi, aimed to find lasting solutions to the water challenges experienced in Umlazi and some parts of eThekwini.
Delivering a keynote address, Mchunu said some water problems experienced in communities could have been easily resolved had local authorities stuck to the basics of operations and maintenance of infrastructure from the onset.
“The problems that we have currently can be resolved quite urgently if we go back to the basics. Our infrastructure has a life span, and we need to take serious care of it before it is too late.
“We must not allow our infrastructure to reach its life span. We need to act proactively to ensure that our house is in order. We are where we are because people are too relaxed at times and only react when there are problems,” Mchunu said.
The Minister said he was encouraged by the resolve shown by Kaunda to solve issues in a short space of time to the benefit of communities.
He underscored the need for urgency in the provision of water to communities.
“We need to accelerate the pace in which we do things [and] where there are issues, we need to be decisive, and a sense of urgency is needed.
“We can’t relax when people do not have water. Let us talk, decide, and implement with the speed that is required and ensure that we fulfil our mandate of providing people with adequate water supply,” Mchunu said.
Kaunda said eThekwini Municipality is doing the best it can to resolve the current water challenges in the city and appealed to provincial and national governments to give them the necessary support in their resolve.
“We are regulated by provincial and national spheres of government in our constitutional mandate as the Water Service Authority, and we acknowledge our role and responsibility.
“We cannot do this alone. We need all the support that we can get, with capacity and resources,” Kaunda said.
Kaunda also dispelled the notion of mistrust of the quality of water in the city, reiterating that water gets tested twice a week by the city and independent scientists to ensure compliance with quality standards.
He further urged residents to work with the city and pay for services rendered to them so that revenue collected can be reinvested.
“Only those who are not working are exempted from paying for government services, and they need to come to us and register as indigent so that they can be on the indigent programme of the city,” Kaunda explained.
Operation and maintenance contract
Meanwhile, uMngeni-uThukela Water has entered into a short-term operation and maintenance contract with the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality to prioritise wastewater maintenance.
As part of this agreement, Kaunda said uMngeni-uThukela Water would operate wastewater works owned by eThekwini and two pump stations deemed critical, and this represents 90% of the effluent that the city treats.
“uMngeni-uThukela Water has been working on priority projects to urgently improve compliance and has since delivered chemicals necessary for treatment in all the wastewater works needing chemicals and is currently spreading the refurbishment of infrastructure.”
eThekwini Metro is supplied by two large water treatment plants – the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant, with a capacity of 615 Ml/d and the Wiggins Water Treatment Plant, with a capacity of 315 Ml/d.
Further supply is from Midmar Water Treatment Plant and DV Harris Water Treatment Plant via uMbumbulu pump station and Point M.
All these schemes abstract raw water from the Mgeni River System through the Midmar, Nagle and Inanda dams.
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