Nomvula Mokonyane tells KwaZulu-Natal ANC to put away their egos

23 May 2016 - 16:38 By Penelope Mashego

Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane says African National Congress members need to rise above their divisions in KwaZulu-Natal ahead of the August 3 municipal elections. “I think the time has come for all of us to put our egos aside and put the ANC first ‚” she saidMokonyane was speaking in Johannesburg at the ANC’s breakfast briefing on its manifesto‚ on Monday.The minister made the statement following rumours that KwaZulu-Natal premier Senzo Mchunu was about to be recalled and the province’s cabinet reshuffled.“Anything that hurts the ANC worries me; anything that has the potential to divide supporters of the ANC does worry me‚” she said.The party’s spokesperson‚ Zizi Kodwa‚ said there was no announcement about Mchunu‚ adding that reporting on the rumours was “reckless journalism”.In her address on water and sanitation service delivery in South Africa‚ Mokonyane said desalination could make SA water secure for the next 30 years.“We’re now investing in desalination…. In the Western Cape‚ we gave them R15 million a week ago to put (in) a new package plant to deal with desalination‚ and we are now discussing with the Eastern Cape to deal with those issues. That is also going to help us to augment water security for this economic hub called Gauteng up to a period of 30 years‚ if we don’t waste water‚” she said.Mokonyane also said the government would invest R6 billion to upgrade infrastructure on water schemes and community infrastructure for the country.She said the country needed alternative solutions‚ as the drought it faced resulted in farmers losing their livestock and being unable to plant for the new season.One of the solutions includes purification of acid mine drainage‚ which would result in the government having to spend less money on the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.The minister also spoke about the ruling party’s achievements in water and sanitation‚ saying that the old townships in Gauteng no longer used the bucket system.Speaking after Mokonyane‚ Ekurhuleni mayor Mondli Gungubele said: “In the area of water‚ we (Ekurhuleni) are leading the country. We are one of the two least-water-using cities in the country. We have invested no less than R3 billion in providing quality sanitation‚” he said.The mayor also said the metro had been able to clamp down on water losses by 32%‚ but it still had a long way to go.- TMG Digital/BDLive..

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