Minister of Water and Sanitation Senzo Mchunu says the country will need R90 billion a year to fix the water country’s neglected infrastructure.
He said they were doing everything to ensure there was constant water supply into communities.
But in instances where there is no water supply, water tankers were being used.
Mchunu, who was replying to a written parliamentary question from EFF MP Khanya Ceza, said there are allegations that water infrastructure was being deliberately damaged and vandalised to force municipalities to hire water tankers.
The government was working on a long-term solution to supply water to a number of communities.
“It is estimated that the water and sanitation sector requires R90 billion per year for the next 10 years in order to achieve 100% reliable water and sanitation service provision in South Africa.
“Water tankering is meant to be a temporary measure utilised by municipalities to ensure that communities are provided with water where there are water supply interruptions resulting from disasters such as floods or droughts or other temporary challenges.
“However, in many instances, the use of tankers to supplement inadequate water supply by municipalities has become part of the ‘normal’ system to supply communities with water. In some instances, there are allegations that infrastructure is vandalised to facilitate continuation of business opportunities via provision of water tankers to municipalities.
“Municipalities have been advised (by the Department of Water and Sanitation) to secure water infrastructure and prevent vandalism and theft of infrastructure which causes water supply interruptions,” said Mchunu.
Mchunu said it is their endeavour that they want to reach district municipalities where there are problems of water supply.
But he said water tankers were not meant to be a long-term solution if there was a crisis.
He called upon municipalities to prevent damage to their water infrastructure in order to avoid the use of water tankers.
Municipalities are using millions of rands to hire water tankers, where it could be used for proper sanitation upgrades.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Politics