With the Lesotho Highlands Water tunnel costing taxpayers R320 million, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has affirmed the project will be of good use to South Africa.
The fiery DWS deputy minister Sello Seitlholo told journalists that the project would not be marred by leaks, water illegal connections, and water tanker mafias.
Seitlholo said meanwhile cases of water loss were reported countrywide due to bogus connections, he said they would fight nail and tooth to defeat the water mafias.
He stressed that although they were losing on illegality matters, they were also giving out grants as the department.
The department led by deputy minister David Mahlobo held a media tour at a Ministerial inspection of the maintenance operations at the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) tunnel in Clarens, Free State.
A joint maintenance operation is currently under way following the tunnel system closure on October 1, 2024.
The tunnel will remain closed for the next six months.
Seitlholo argued that the local government municipalities are not doing their jobs hence the experienced water supply crisis.
“Gauteng department said consumption is higher than normal standard, we can’t use that as a benchmark, we have to look at what we’re losing in terms of illegality, terms of issues of leaks, be able to juxtapose that with the consumption down national level gives municipalities grants, those grants assist municipalities with water and sanitation infrastructure,” he said.
Seitlholo said the issue was far more complex than it seemed especially at the local level, emphasising that if the infrastructure was not in good shape then such water problems would consistently strike them.
“Municipalities must take responsibility for the challenges we are finding and most of them are political, build-up of to local government elections or any other elections, quite several political parties make promises to communities, when they get power they don’t deliver and this is why we find ourselves without certain services,” he said.
He added that such problems arose because there was a lack of accountability from municipal officials.
Seitlholo said calling out corrupt politicians and officials in government should be prioritised because it would minimise the lack of service delivery issue.
“We should not be afraid of calling them out,” he said.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
IOL Politics