Technical teams and funding dispatched to municipalities to fix water, sewage: Senzo Mchunu

The department of water and sanitation (DWS) says it is working collaboratively with stakeholders to address the findings of the blue and green drop reports. 

This includes the department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs, the Municipal Infrastructure Agency, the department of human settlements and National Treasury.

Minister of water and sanitation Senzo Mchunu said action plans have been developed to address key findings in the worst-performing municipalities.

“These action plans include the provision of grants worth more than R20bn per annum to municipalities, technical and engineering support and assistance, capacity building and training, and financial management advice and support,” he said. 

The DWS released the drop reports on the state of water in the country on Tuesday. The blue, green and no drop certification programmes are incentive-based regulatory mechanisms to improve municipal drinking water quality, wastewater management, water conservation and demand management.

The reports will outline how municipalities are performing in terms of their constitutional mandate to provide water and sanitation services, recognise water services authorities that are performing well and outline interventions being put in place to strengthen regulations and support those struggling. 

Mchunu said there are limits to which national government support and intervention can address the decline in services, and fundamental reform is also required.

“To this end we recently gazetted the Water Services Amendment Bill for public comment. The bill will result in more professionally managed, capable, efficient and financially viable water services institutions,” he said. 

He said the department will continue to devote its resources and focus to ensuring water services received by citizens are of acceptable quality and standard.

“The department uses its regulatory and support branches to identify challenges and address them as early as practically possible. The role of the blue, no and green drops are key in this process and will continue to show their value going forward,” he said. 

The minister said the programmes were important as they serve as indicators of the quality of drinking and wastewater. 

“We also have the no drop programme which focuses on water conservation and demand management and aimed at ensuring water distribution systems function effectively and do not lose precious, much-needed water via leaks,” he said. 

Mchunu said another important aspect of the programmes was that they set standards higher than minimum requirements and challenge water services authorities to strive for excellence.

“While there is primary legislation which deals with these aspects, it needs to be understood these programmes are intended to augment and complement the normal legislative and regulatory provisions.

“The drop certification programme has ignited passion and pride in the water sector. It embeds a culture of regulatory compliance and provides a standard for municipalities to work towards.”

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