Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698140107395.pdf (South Africa)
UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 1 FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 ____ PROCEEDINGS OF THE MINI-PLENARY SESSION – NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CHAMBER ____ Members of the mini-plenary session met on the virtual platform at 9:59.

House Chairperson Mr C T Frolick took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
The Chairperson announced that the virtual mini-plenary sitting constituted a meeting of the National Assembly.

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Thank you, hon members.

Hon members, before we proceed, I would like to remind you that the virtual mini-plenary is deemed to be in the precinct of Parliament and it constitutes a meeting of the National Assembly for debating purposes only.
In addition to the Rules of virtual sittings, the Rules of the National UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 2 Assembly including the rules of debate apply.

Members enjoy the same powers and privileges that apply to a sitting of the National Assembly.

Members should equally note that anything said on the platform is deemed to have been said to the House and may be ruled upon.
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This is because the microphones are very sensitive and will pick up any noise which might disturb the attention of other members.

When you are recognised to speak, please unmute your microphone and connect your video.
Members may also make use of the icons on the bars at the bottom of their screens which has the option that allows a member to put up his or her hand to raise points of order.

Hon members, the secretariat will assist me in alerting when members are requesting to speak.

When using the virtual platform, members are urged to refrain or desist from unnecessary points of order or interjections.
We shall now proceed to the Order, which is a debate on Vote No 41: Water UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 3 and Sanitation Appropriation Bill.

I will now recognise the hon Minister of Water and Sanitation.
APPROPRIATION BILL Debate on Vote No 41 - Water and Sanitation: The MINISTER OF WATER AND SANITATION: House Chair, hon Speaker and Deputy Speaker, His Excellency, the President and the Deputy President, Deputy Ministers of the department, David Mahlobo and Magadzi, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, hon members, members of the public, the director-general and senior managers in our department, leadership of our entities – chairpersons of boards, CEOs and senior executives, leadership of stakeholders and fellow South Africans, it is a great honour for me to present my maiden budget speech to the National Assembly in the Republic of South Africa, since my appointment as Minister of Water and Sanitation in August last year.
Let me start with the KwaZulu-Natal floods.

We are making this speech at a difficult time, following devastating floods in various parts of the country, KwaZulu-Natal in particular, UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 4 followed by the Eastern Cape.

I wish to take this opportunity to express our sincere condolences to the families of all those who lost loved ones in the floods.
We would also like to express empathy for all those who are still without water and sanitation services due to the floods.

We want to take this opportunity and assure them that we are hard at work to return to normality as fast as possible to restore these services.

Immediately after the floods, we established a water and sanitation war room in KwaZulu-Natal, together with the worst affected municipalities and the government of the province.
Our department quickly hired water tankers to supplement those available in the municipalities and we seconded a team of engineers and other specialists to the war room to assist with the implementation of emergency repair work and to assess and quantify the damage.

We are at the moment focusing in the areas up north of eThekwini, particularly in Tongaat area, where people are still without water to large extent.
Good progress has been made with regards to the restoration of water supply but there has been immense damage to water and sanitation infrastructure, we must admit.

UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 5 Together with the municipalities, we completed the costing of the damage and submitted an application to the Department of Co-operative Governance’s disaster funding.
Once funding is allocated, we will continue to be involved in the planning and monitoring of implementation of the reconstruction projects, with a stern focus on building back better.
On the National Water and Sanitation Summit, over the past nine months we have traversed the length and breadth of our country, meeting with those entrusted with supplying and treating water in our communities, our department’s regional offices, municipalities, water boards, water-user associations, irrigation boards and catchment agencies – as well as representatives of the communities and industries which are the recipients of our services.
In addition, in February this year we convened a two-day long National Water and Sanitation Summit, which was attended by a wide range of stakeholders and experts.

As a result of these engagements, we have developed a thorough understanding of the water and sanitation challenges facing the country, as well as a high level of consensus regarding what needs to be done to turn the tide.
At this point in time, we want to assure the UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 6 public that we are equal to the task and we are making progress.

The department is in the process of planning and implementing a range of major projects to augment national bulk water resource infrastructure.
We are also in the process of establishing the National Water Resources Infrastructure Agency to leverage large-scale investments in national water resource infrastructure that are required to ensure that South Africa has sufficient bulk water supply now and in future.

The National Water Resources Infrastructure Agency Bill will soon be submitted to the Cabinet Committee and will thereafter be submitted to Cabinet for approval and then to Parliament before the end of this financial year.
The final draft of the business plan has been submitted to National Treasury for comment.

The augmentation projects, establishment of the agency and interventions are intended to ensure that the supply of water does not become a binding constraint to economic growth that has been envisaged by South Africa.
They are also aimed at ensuring that challenges with municipal water and sanitation service delivery are not exacerbated by a shortage of bulk UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 7 water, as has happened in the cities of Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Bay, amongst others, in the past.
The rainfall pattern in South Africa shows that there is more rain in the eastern parts of the country – from the south to the north, with a red patch in the middle, and a yellow patch in the west, towards the west coast – that is from Nelson Mandel Bay up to Limpopo, including North West, the Northern Cape and the Western Cape.

All those places are yellowish.


But when we shift to the middle, again from Nelson Mandel Bay, going up to the north – that is where we have a close to crisis kind of a situation with the red patch that requires a lot of thinking in terms of other strategies including ground water.
Our main concern right now is dam levels and the availability of water in Nelson Mandela Bay, but it also includes the current challenges in Musina, Vhembe and other parts of the country that are still struggling as a results of shortages of water.

Some historical, and some as a result disturbances in infrastructure of one kind or the other, up to sheer lack of management services that are required all the time.

We acknowledge this challenge.


UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 8 Ladies and gentlemen, the department has therefore developed a number of projects at various stages throughout the country - for instance, in the Eastern Cape, the Mzimvubu Water Project which we are advancing in terms planning is aimed at providing water to 750 000 people.

But that dam will come at a cost of R25 billion.


I must say that it is now at the stage where Treasury and ourselves are finalising the availability of doing procurement together with companies that would be involved in this project to try and see what malls we will have that will ultimately deliver on this particular project.

The designs are 80% complete and the first round of fundraising began in January 2022 through a request for information, which is currently being evaluated.
We know that this is an outstanding project over a number of years but we want to make an undertaking once more.

We are on course and we are aware of the concern in the Eastern Cape regarding this project, and we will work together with them up until we deliver this particular project.
In the Free State, we are in the feasibility stage of a R10 billion project to build a major pipeline from the Xhariep Dam, which is the biggest in the country, to augment water UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 9 supply in Mangaung.

The project is planned to be completed by 2028, if not earlier.
In addition, we are implementing a R1,7 billion project to upgrade wastewater treatment works, water treatment works and water distribution networks in the Maluti- a-Phofung area.

This project is approximately 30% complete and is due to be fully completed by July 2025.

The R36 billion Phase 2 Lesotho Highlands Water Project is aimed at ensuring an adequate long-term water supply in Gauteng via the Vaal River system.
The project is funded through finance raised by the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority, TCTA, and is being implemented jointly by the governments of Lesotho and South Africa, through the Lesotho Highlands Water Commission and the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority.

To date, 14% of the budget has been spent and the project is due to start delivering water to Gauteng by 2027.
And it is important that we do so because we are aware that after 2027, Gauteng itself, and the whole of the Vaal River system will be showing signs of strain.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the raising of the dam wall in Hazelmere Dam to ensure long-term water supply to Ethekwini is 96% complete.

We went there three months ago to ensure this.


This project is due to be completed in the third UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 10 quarter of 2022 if not earlier, at a cost of approximately R800 million.

The uMkhomazi Water Project is also aimed at delivering long- term additional water to the eThekwini and Umgungundlovu areas.

It will come at a cost of R23 billion by 2028.


And again, we have been assured by experts that if this project is not completed by this period or earlier, eThekwini and Umgungundlovu areas, including Harry Gwala municipality and Ugu municipality and iLembe municipality – they will suffer in terms of water.

It is imperative that we complete this project on time.

The project is at prefunding stage, with funding to be raised by the TCTA, and construction is expected to start in 2025.
This past Monday, 9 May 2022, we officially launched the R24 billion Olifants River Water Resources Development Project which will be implemented as a public-private partnership, PPP, with mining companies, to fast-track water delivery to communities and mines in the Sekhukhune and Mogalakwena municipalities in Limpopo by 2028.
We are pleased to announce this because it has been a project that we have been discussing with the Lebalelo Water Users Association, and UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 11 finally, we celebrated this in cape Town in the evening of last Monday.

This is a project that we are sure that not only the department but South Africa will be proud of once it is started and once it is completed with the first drop coming at some point.
That is what we are looking forward to.

We appreciate the availability of this partnership that has been crafted with Lebalelo Water Users Association.

Government and the mining companies will each fund approximately 50% of the project, which will be implemented by the transformed Lebalelo Water Users Association, as we have said.

The project is at approval stage with some of the work packages at pre- construction stage and construction is anticipated to begin by later this year.
The R1,2 billion Thembisile-Loskop bulk water supply project in Mpumalanga is aimed at addressing water supply challenges in the Thembisile Hani Local Municipality.

The project will provide 23 megalitres of water to communities in the Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces.

The project is at procurement stage and will be implemented over a three-year period from May 2022 to April 2025.
Bu I must say that I have UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 12 gone out to speak to the director-general in our department and asked him to think harder to see if we can’t start earlier due to pressure in terms of delivery of water from this particular project.
It goes beyond the boundary of Mpumalanga and Limpopo, and it will have a major impact to communities out there, including Moutse area, whose people have been grieving for water for a long time.

In a short while, we will be planning to meet them, once we are sure that the project has been completely packaged so that we are able to deliver water via this one.

We are at work on the matter.

The Vaal Gamagara Water Supply Scheme is critical for both mining and potable water supply in the Northern Cape.
Phase 1 is 96% complete at a cost of R1,4 billion with Phase 2 starting later this year at an estimated cost of R10 billion.

This project is very important.

We went out to Northern Cape and we completed the discussion on Phase 2 and we are happy that we have a very healthy relationship with mining houses there.

We will ensure that before the end of this year, that project gets to a starting point, without and delay and derailment.
UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 13 Similarly, to the Olifants River project in Limpopo, this project is also being implemented as a PPP, that is public- private collaboration with mining houses, with roughly equal financial contributions from government and the mines.
This partnership, as a concept and as a strategy is going to be the pillar of our strategy, going forward, and it can’t be government alone because of shortages of money and other related problems.

Therefore, we are happy that this partnership between government and the private sector is taking root.
We recently commissioned the Moretele South Pipeline in the North West, a 60km pipe which will be operated and maintained by Magalies Water and which will be of benefit, among others, villages of the Moretele Local Municipality, namely Carousel View, Dertig, Bosplaas, Mathibestad, Makapanstad, and quite a host of others that the mayor counted when we were together launching this particular project.

This one is complete and it is delivering water.


It liberates those communities from what is happening, where they were dependent on water from Tshwane, which will only be twice a week.

And it was a constraint to those people in the context of water being a right to life.

Therefore, we are happy that they will now get water seven UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 14 days a week, 24 in terms of hours – 24/7.
We are appealing to communities there to look after the infrastructure and we are sure that Magalies Water will maintain our infrastructure there to the best of their ability, as agreed.

To increase water security in the west coast area of Cederberg in the Western Cape, we have resumed construction work to raise the wall of Clanwilliam Dam at a cost of R3,2 billion.

The advance infrastructure is complete and work on the dam wall is starting this month.

It is due to be completed in 2026.


In addition, we are implementing the Brandvlei Dam Project in the Western Cape.

This is a R21 million project which involves the construction of a feeder canal which will provide an additional 33 megalitres of water for storage in the dam, unlocking agricultural growth potential in the area.

We went there and we launched the programme and we know that work is underway in that particular place.
We are working together with the Western cape government on this matter and we are pleased that we are talking about something that we have seen and it is underway.

UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 15 With regard to groundwater, this year, the World Water Day was celebrated under the theme: “Making the Invisible Visible”, highlighting the importance of exploring groundwater as an alternative water source.
Groundwater is already the main source of water for large parts of our country, including the Karoo, Northern Cape, Western Cape, and parts of Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape and use in respect of it needs to be managed carefully for it to be sustainable.

We are happy to say that this is something that we want to concentrate on and focus on from now onwards.

Regarding water use licences, we are sticking to the 90 days as a period within which each water licence application must be completed.
We have put together a team; we have trained them and we are on course to deliver on this particular one.

It is very important that we deliver these licences without any delay.

We want to be held accountable on this matter whenever there is a problem.

On water boards, we announced later after our summit that we will be reviewing our water boards in term of number for economies of scale, but we will also be reviewing them in terms of their work areas also in terms of their mandate.
We UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 16 have taken steps in this regard.

We have dissolved or disestablished the Sedibeng Water Board and we continue with our work to improve efficiency but also to ensure that water boards are able to raise funds independently and are able to then come with additional assistance to the needy communities.
But we will continue to work very close to municipalities, especially those that have no capacity to deliver water and put our water boards to those municipalities so that they can render this service without any delay and without interfering with constitutional and other legislative frameworks with regard to the role of municipalities.

We are urging municipalities to put water delivery above any other thing so that communities don’t suffer as a result of rhetoric which in some cases may not be necessary.
At this stage I want to indicate that the hon Deputy Minister Mahlobo will later speak on Catchment Management Agencies, the Raw Water Strategy and a few other policy-related matters.

Thank you very much.

Mr L J BASSON: Good morning Chairperson and thank you very much.

South Africa is one of the few countries in the world that enshrines in its Constitution the basic right to UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 17 sufficient water.
Although we acknowledge that progress has been made, much remains to be done to fulfil that right.

The department’s legislative mandate ensures that the country’s water resources are protected, managed and controlled by regulating and supporting effective water supply and sanitation delivery.

Before we unpack our water and sanitation challenges, allow me to congratulate Dr Sean Phillips on his appointment as the Director-General for Water and Sanitation.
Dr Phillips, the DA fully supports your appointment and we trust that you will not be bogged down by political interference in cleaning up and fixing the Department of Water and Sanitation.

As we all know, Water and Sanitation is in a bad state, still affected by a toxic Nomvula Mokonyane virus, and must be cleaned up now.
Furthermore, Minister Sisulu also added her flavour in confusing matters by appointing advisory committees that duplicated work being done in the department, costing ratepayers R63 million.

The DA congratulates Minister Senzo Mchunu for dissolving the Sisulu advisory committees, saving us millions.
Minister, the Special Investigating Unit, SIU, must follow up on the R35 million kickback paid out on the UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 18 Systems Applications Products, Sap, contract.

Where did the money go and who benefited?

We received the 2022 Blue Drop Progress Report on 1 186 water purification systems in the country that clean 31 911 million litres of drinking water every day.
The report reveals that 48% of the country’s water supply systems were judged to be low risk, 18% medium risk and 34% high or critical risk.

This result is shocking!

Now, the question is the following.

How safe is our drinking water?

To answer this, I quote from the report, “Although some regions have performed better than others, DWS is concerned about the poor water quality in the country”.

Afrikaans: Hierdie resultate is skokkend en moet dringend aangespreek word.
English: The 2022 Green Drop Report covers 995 ...

[Inaudible.]

... treatment works in the country and the outcome just confirms UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 19 the DA’s warning over the last eight years of oversight on the critical state of our water infrastructure.

Let’s unpack this report.

Firstly, only 23 wastewater treatment works qualified for Green Drop certification compared to 60 in 2013.
This is a 260% drop in Green Drop certification since 2013.

Secondly, 78% of Limpopo’s wastewater treatment works have the highest critical risk in the country, with the Western Cape having the lowest critical risk of only 11%.

That’s not all.

Listen to this.

The report shows that 102 out of the 115 wastewater treatment plants under the control of Minister De Lille and her department are at critical risk, with an average Green Drop score of only 12%.

This implies a 90% failure under her leadership.


Minister De Lille, first you gave us the R40 million washing line and now you are dumping 40 million litres of real shit into the country's rivers and streams every day.

What a disgrace!

UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 20 We need to take firm action against polluters, and issue huge fines and lock up those responsible for pollution.
Minister, we must now implement the polluter must pay principle.

South Africa’s water infrastructure is at risk of failure and this deepening crisis requires leaders from all role-players in the water sector to address these challenges.

The DA believes that through meaningful public-private partnerships, a solution can be found.

Water specialists indicated that more than R900 billion will be needed in the next 10 years on infrastructure to avoid a full-scale water crisis.
We must also note that R100 billion is needed on mega infrastructure projects with only R4 billion available.

We can’t keep on running water infrastructure if we don’t look after it.

If you don’t maintain it, it will break and then, bang!

Suddenly you hit the cliff and the entire infrastructure collapses.

This is starting to happen in some areas of this country.
Afrikaans: UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 21 Minister, die DA se boodskap aan u is baie duidelik.

Wanneer Suid-Afrika se water infrastruktuur in duie stort, sal dit 56 miljoen mense affekteer, ryk of arm, swart of wit.

Dit sal geweldige druk op die Suid-Afrikaanse ekonomie en voedselsekerheid plaas.
English: Minister, you have your work cut out for you, but unfortunately your ANC government has dropped the ball and is not living up to the slogan: Water is life, sanitation is dignity.

And so, South Africans continue to suffer without water, not because of drought but because of corruption and mismanagement by this ANC government.

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon members, [Inaudible.]

who is hon Mohlala [Interjections.]

Hon members of the ANC, I can’t listen to all of you at the same time.
Can I listen to the hon Radebe?

UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 22 Mr B A RADEBE: Chairperson, can hon Grace Tseke do the speech of hon Mashego please?

She’s the last one on the side of ANC, Grace Tseke.

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon member, I’ve now already called the hon Mohlala.

I’ll ask the hon Tseke to follow after the hon Mohlala.
Mrs R M MOHLALA: Chairperson, the EFF rejects Budget Vote 41 on Water and Sanitation.

The grave matter of lack of water and sanitation services to millions of our people.

Without these services deserves an extraordinary approach form a government that cares for the people.

Not this lacquered desical attitude shown by the Department of Water and Sanitation.
As things stand now, your own national water and sanitation master plan shows that over 5,3 million households in this country do not have access to clean water services.
Your own water and sanitation master plan shows a growing gap between water supply and water demand in the country and estimates that if no significant investments are made to beef up water infrastructure and promote conservation of water services, UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 23 supply will eclipse demand by over 17% in 2030; that is in eight years from now, Minister.
But what impactful investment in water infrastructure has the department done?

What forms of water conservation practices have been initiated?

The department is fiddling while the country is on the precipice of water disaster.

Without a bold plan to avert this water shortage disaster, the country will face a water crisis worse than the electricity disaster we are currently facing with the failing Eskom.

We need bold action now.


We are already seeing the consequences of this neglect of water demand problem in municipalities such as Makana and Nelson Mandela Metro in the Eastern Cape.

We are already seeing the desperation caused by lack of water in communities around Limpopo, who depend on boreholes for their water.

This department and municipalities cannot even install boreholes for our communities.

As we speak, Minister, Musina is burning, there’s no water.
UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 24 The water boards that have been used as playgrounds for the ruling party’s patronage politics and which have been factories for producing the most corrupt activities must be revamped and refocus towards building water infrastructure and delivering water services.
The artificial separation between this department’s mandate and the municipality’s responsibility in delivering water must be addressed.

If no executive oversight is given on the infrastructure projects that have been initiated, and if the Lesotho highland project is not expedited, Gauteng will experience serious water shortages before the end of this decade.

Protest over water will become common place across the country and social unrest will [Inaudible.]

this country over.
this country over.

South Africa’s large water and sanitation projects currently under construction are behind schedule; with some facing delays of more than five years.

Almost all of them fail to meet their initial deadlines.

UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 25 Projects in the planning phase, upgrading the Olifantspoort and Ebenezer water supply scheme in Limpopo have not cleared deadlines.
This is the same for other projects such as the long-standing Giyani bulk water supply project, also in Limpopo.

The Giyani intervention was conceived in 2014 to supply the surrounding villages with clean drinking water and be completed within five years.

After details of corruption in match on the project, with a lengthy investigation, the date for completion was shifted to December 2022, and now March 2023.
Other examples of inefficiencies in completing bulk water and sanitation infrastructure are the Masodi Waste Water Management project.

Projects are not restricted to Limpopo.

However, missed deadlines, wasteful expenditure and poor planning of bulk infrastructure projects have become the norm in almost all of the country.

UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 26 Every large project in the Eastern Cape has been delayed.
The uMzimvubu Dam project was started in February 2015 and the target completion date was May 2023; this deadline will obviously not be met as well.

The Nooitgedacht Coega low level scheme and the James Kleinhans bulk water supply project, both in the Eastern Cape, will also be delayed.

In the Western Cape, the raising of Clanwilliam dam wall was initially to completed in November 2021; challenges have pushed the deadline to June 2026.
The Thembisile regional water supply project in Mpumalanga was due for completion in 2022, but this is now moved to 2024.

The Britz water treatment works in North West started in 2007, was meant to take seven years to complete, but will only complete its second phase in 2023.
Pollution of our river system, spillages of influence, dysfunctional waste water treatment works and water treatment plants are daily occurrences in different parts of the UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 27 country.

Linked to bulk water and sanitation infrastructure are the operations and maintenance of the infrastructure.
The national Department of Water and Sanitation appropriates billions of rands each year for built water and sanitation infrastructure, only to have all that money going down the drain.

The recently published green drop report 2022 is testimony to the country’s failing water and sanitation infrastructure.

We reject this report.

We condemn the incompetence and corruption of the ANC.

We encourage our people to keep asserting their right to water and sanitation by all means necessary.

Amandla!
Amandla!

[Power] Ms G K TSEKE: Thank you very much Chairperson and good morning everyone.

I read the speech on behalf of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee Water and Sanitation, hon Mashego.

Hon Chair, water is life, sanitation is dignity.


The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa section 27(1)(b) states that: UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 28 Everyone has the right to access to sufficient food and water and; The state takes reasonable legislative and other measures within its available resource to achieve the progressive realisation of these rights.
As the ANC, we are convinced that the Department of Water and Sanitation and its entities Budget Vote 41, will take forward the building of the water infrastructure today to secure the future of the next generation.

Hon Chair, since the ANC took over the running of this government in 1994, there is a lot that has been done, and there is still a lot that we are doing in ensuring that our people have access to clean drinking water in adequate sanitation.

The Minister has elaborated on that.


Our democratic government took the decision to provide free basic services, such as water and sanitation for indigent households.

Currently each indigent household informal settlement with taps in their yards are entitled to six kilolitres of water per month, and have been provided with adequate sanitation in the form of flushing toilets.
As per UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 29 the United States Nations Sustainable Development Goals Report for 2021, it indicates that in 2017, 92.7% of the population had access to basic drinking water, while a 75,7% of the population had access to basic sanitation.

Hon members, ours is to ensure that every household has access to basic services, irrespective of where they reside.
The Department of Water and Sanitation and is entities has this financial year, committed to implement measure water projects to augment national bulk-water resources infrastructure.

For this financial year, the Department and its entities would be spending an amount of 12,7 billion for the development, rehabilitation and refurbishment of the raw water resources and water service infrastructure in our country.
We further welcome the report by the department and these entities that will be implementing and finalising two mega projects, 24 large and 28 small bulk-water infrastructure.

That report was presented to the portfolio committee, and hon Mohlala was part of that.

Hon Chair and hon members, as the department and its entities, we continue to provide bulk water infrastructure.
We must UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 30 ensure that when infrastructure is handed over to the various water services authorities, there is capacity to maintain and operate the new or refurbished infrastructure.

The country’s population rely on the 144 water services authorities, for the provision of water and sanitation services.
The department has acknowledged that there are key challenges facing the water services authority as it relates to technical capacity, investment in and maintenance of the water and sanitation infrastructure.

As the ANC, we welcome to intervention already made by Minister Mchunu to support these municipalities, where there is failure to meet the minimum water and sanitation national standards.
We are hopeful that by the end of the financial year, Parliament will finalize the Intergovernmental Monitoring Support and Intervention Bill.

The Bill will ensure that the national government is able to regulate the implementation and provide the processes, for an effective and efficient intervention in the water services authorities.

Hon Chair, the ANC government is committed to the provision of water services to all its citizens.
However, in order for the local municipalities to be able to deliver water quality and UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 31 sanitation services, it is also dependent on its ability to collect water tariffs.

As the ANC we support the introduction of the water user pay principle.

It must be enforced to ensure that the water services authorities are financially viable entities.
Our support for the water user pay principle is cognisance of the vast majority of our people, as the vast majority of our people are intelligent.

Therefore, we encourage those water services authorities to apply for indigent funding from the National Treasury.

Hon Chair, we know that municipalities are owed huge sums of money spent residents which then means that these municipalities all huge sums of money to various water boards.
We have recommended that, the department must come up with ways of improving debt collection by these municipalities.

Further, encouraged the department to assist local municipalities to ensure that their billing systems and revenue mechanisms are strengthened.
Hon members, central to the government infrastructure development and the socioeconomic development of the surrounding communities, President Ramaphosa in the state of nation address, made a commitment that government will be UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 32 undertaking in far reaching [Inaudible] ... measures to unleash the potential of small businesses, micro businesses and informal businesses, as they are the ones that create the most jobs and provide most opportunities for the poor to earn a living.
Indeed, the department and its entities have responded to the President’s instruction of ensuring that, small and micro enterprises benefit in government programmes.

The department has set aside 40% of procurement to be spent for women while the youth and people with disabilities will be allocated 30% and 7% respectively.

Further, there are 165 direct job opportunities that will be created through the implementation of the augmentation of infrastructure and operation of water resource projects.
An additional further than 450 jobs will be created through the implementation of the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant.
We believe that the sector has the potential of creating more job opportunities, hence in our portfolio committee we recommended that, the department and its entities must provide quarterly reports socioeconomic impact in terms of the number of jobs created, and the number of small and medium UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 33 enterprises benefiting from the various water and sanitation infrastructure structure projects.
Hon Chair and hon members, there are a number of ... [Inaudible] ... that are allocated to municipalities from various government departments, which are meant to address water and sanitation services.

The experience has shown that most of our local municipalities are not really able to spend the monies allocated to them as a result of lack of planning, budgeting and co-ordination of the various grants that they received from national department.
To remedy the situation, the President announced the implementation of the District Development Model, DDM as a government approach that national department and their entities give the necessary technical and financial support to local municipalities in the implementation of the one plan, one budget.

We have recommended to the department and its entities to align their Annual Performance Plan, APP along the District Development Model.
By doing that, the department will make it possible for the portfolio committee to play an effective and efficient oversight over the spending of the various grants to UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 34 waters services authorities.

The DDM strengthens transparency and accountability on the use of taxpayers’ money.
Hon Chair, we are confident that the measures contained in the department and its entities, will build water infrastructure that will secure the future of the next generation.

Once again, as the ANC we support 100% the Budget Vote 41 as presented by the Minister of the Department of Water and Sanitation.

I thank you.

Setswana: Ke a leboga.

Mr K P SITHOLE: Thank you, hon Chairperson.

I am reading this on behalf of hon S A Buthelezi who is the main member of Water and Sanitation.
Hon Chairperson, water is not a supplement to our daily living.

It is in fact very necessary to our assistance.

And surprisingly, the Department of Water and Sanitation is one of the most important and conservative to the sustainability of the population of South Africa.

Vast quantities of countries water services are under stress dilapidated and insufficient.
The dependence of water by all UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 35 further emphasises the importance of taking no nonsense when it comes to protecting this vital resources.

One of the major challenges of recent has been seen in the province of KwaZulu-Natal and part of the Eastern Cape floods damage was explores to adequate attention to water infrastructure.
However, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape are not the only affected provinces.

In Gauteng, it has been reported that water leaks due to poor infrastructure resulted in a loss of half of all water – a loss that is estimated to sit at around R500 million in our municipalities.

Before the floods affected KwaZulu-Natal, water infrastructure was already in a state of collapse.
Anyone who will stand here today and claims that the problem with water infrastructure is as a result of unforeseen circumstances of the floods damage is attempting to mislead the House and the citizens of this country.

The truth of the matter is that, there was no maintenance plan for water reticulations infrastructure in KwaZulu-Natal.
There is solid evidence to support this as a budget for KwaZulu- Natal and eThekwini in particular was almost entirely spend on the operational requirement of the water reticulation system.
UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 36 The eThekwini Council has before the floods estimated that a plan to fix and upgrade reticulation process, which include pump system dam put a pipe required a budget of about R1 billion per year over a period of 10 years.

This means that a special budget over and above general operation need to be adequately repair existing infrastructure as the loses set up at about 54% of reticulation water.
The IFP has over the past has been bringing the importance of water infrastructure to the attention of this House and to the department.

It is however seen to a fallen over deaf ears.

In this Parliament, we have asked whether an audit had been done on all the water infrastructure that needed repair in the country and the Minister could not be given us a definite answer.
Now that we are forced into crisis we have to accept any half back ideas how to fix and repair our infrastructures of balancing the growing demand and reliance on water.

The department should desist the opportunity at this point to draft the well organised budget in that would address the floods affected areas and then move into other areas that is in dire needs of water.
Without a plan to address the slowly threatening water infrastructure shortcomings in South Africa UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 37 we are simply planning to fail the people of this country.

The IFP do support the budget.

Thank you very much.

Afrikaans: Mnr P MEY: Voorsitter, Suid-Afrika het die afgelope ses maande baie goeie reën ontvang, met die uitsondering van die gebiede bokant die Nelson Mandelabaai damme.
Ongeag die goeie reënval, bly die krane oor groot dele van Suid-Afrika nog droog.

Die verslag meld dat alle inwoners van Suid-Afrika teen 2030 bekostigbare en betroubare toegang tot genoegsame skoon water en sanitasie moet verkry.

Op dié stadium blyk dit steeds ’n droom te wees.

In dele van die Vrystaat — Parys, ...

[Onhoorbaar.]

... en Tumahole — was die gebied vir 66 dae sonder water.
Tydens die sitting van 7 September 2021, het agb Tammy Breedt van die VF Plus ’n lidverklaring oor Qwaqwa se water ingedien.

Die Adjunkminister van Water en Sanitasie het gereageer en bevestig dat hulle ondersoek ingestel het en R26,5 miljoen bewillig het.

Die munisipaliteit dra geen kennis daarvan nie.

Die situasie bly net versleg.

Die waterkrisis in die Nelson Mandelabaai-metro duur al vir byna sewe jaar.
Die VF Plus het UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 38 sedert 2019 permanent tydens toesprake oor die dreigende waterkrisis verslag gedoen.

Niks is aan die situasie gedoen nie.

Ek het in 2019 daarop gewys dat ons sê ons is een van die 30 droogste lande in die wêreld.

Dit is nie waar nie.

Ons het genoeg water maar ontbreek aan genoeg damme om daardie water op te gaar.
Die massas water wat see toe vloei moet na droë dele in Suid-Afrika opgegaar en herlei word.

Dink net aan die groot getal werksgeleenthede wat geskep word.

Ek wil vandag spesifiek na die Nelson Mandelabaai-metro verwys.

Die gemiddelde damvlakke is vandag 12,81%.

Binne 30 dae gaan 40% van Nelson Mandelabaai-metro se inwoners geen water tot hul beskikking het nie.

Ek wil herhaal.

Binne 30 dae gaan 40% van Nelson Mandelabaai-metro se inwoners geen water tot hul beskikking het nie.
Dit sluit ook die grootste gevangenis in die Oos-Kaap, namens die St Albans-gevangenis, in.

Dit sal een van die grootste rampe in die geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika wees.

Verskeie redes kan genoem word waarom daar so baie water vermors word.

Eerstens is dit die inwoners van die metro wat nie vir water betaal nie en dus nie omgee oor die hoeveelheid water wat hulle vermors nie.
Tweedens, die Nooitgedacht- UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 39 watersuiweringsprojek wat uit die water van die Gariepdam gevoed word, is vertraag oor ’n betalingsdispuut.

Die kontrakteur het sy kontrak in 2021 beëindig omdat Amatola- waterraad nie ’n betaling van R1,9 miljoen betaal het nie.

Die projek moes in September 2021 al voltooi gewees het.
Die Nooitgedacht-watersuiweringsprojek is ’n projek van die Departement van Water en Sanitasie.

Ek wil net noem dat dit so belangrik is dat daardie projek vining voltooi moet word aangesien dit tans 170 megaliter water per dag voorsien, en as fase drie voltooi is, is dit ’n verdere 40 megaliter per dag.

Die VF Plus dagbestuur het so vyf weke gelede die Nooitgedacht-watersuiweringsprojek besoek en ek wil nou vir u een ding sê.

Daar word hard gewerk en die oponthoud onnodig was.
Maar wat is die korttermyn oplossing in die Nelson Mandelabaai-metro?

In 2019 het ek ’n beroep op die Minister van waterwese, agb Sisulu gedoen dat geen bouplan goedgekeur moet word indien daar nie voorsiening gemaak is vir die opgaar van water deur middel van watertenks nie.

Die groote van die woning se dak UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 40 moet bepaal hoeveel water gestoor moet word.
Elke huis wat gebou word moet van geute en ’n 5 000 liter tenk voorsien word.

Dit moet op ’n sement fondasie geplaas word om diefstal te voorkom.

Waarom is dit so belangrik?

In die metro anderkant die opvangsgebied was die reënval goed en sou die watertenks gereeld gevul word.

Ek wil vandag ’n beroep op die Minister van Water en Sanitasie doen.

Begin onmiddelik met die oprigting van watertenks.

Ek wil vir u sê dat die krisis geweldig is maar ons kan nog ’n oplossing vind.

Ek wil afsluit.
Ek wil afsluit.

Ek dink min mense besef in wattter situasie die Oos-Kaap hom bevind en daarom as gelowige wil ek sê, kom ons as gelowiges glo eh hoop dat God ons damme in hierdie 30 dae sal vul.

Dankie, Voorsitter.

The DEPUTY MINISTER OF WATER AND SANITATION (Mr M D Mahlobo): Your Excellence Chair of Chairs comrade Frolick , the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Macingwane, other Ministers that are here.
Deputy Minister Magadzi and other Deputy Ministers, hon comrade Pemmy Majodina, our Whip and Deputy Chief Whip comrade Dlakude, the Chair of our committee, comrade Mashego and our Whip of committee comrade Grace, hon Members of Parliament, GN UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 41 senior managers, the leadership of our entities, esteemed guests and fellow South Africans.
Your Excellences, comrades and friends, many citizens across the globe, they continue to perish, economies have stagnated whilst exposing inequalities that are existing amongst the nations due to the continued devastating impact of COVID-19, the Russia- Ukraine conflict, as well as global security, and geo-political tensions.
In our country we have experienced COVID-19, July 2021 violent unrests affecting KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng Province and recently the untold suffering caused by the floods in KwaZulu-Natal, KZN, some parts of the Eastern Cape, North West and the fires that ravaged more than 300 shacks in the Western Cape.

I am joining Minister Mchunu in paying our last respect to all those who lost their lives due to the matters I have raised.
Their memories will live on because they remain embedded in our minds and in our hearts.

These are the heroes and heroines that have already succumbed, including the rescue worker that actually passed on in KwaZulu-Natal.

UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 42 The only way that we must know that COVID-19 continue to be with us.

The virus is mutating, there are new strains that are emerging.
And, the only way to stop the spread is through our behaviour as individuals and collectively.

Let us support the campaign and the programme by President and government of vaccination and frown upon those who continue to spread the false narrative about vaccines.

Water is an integral part of the ecosystem, a natural resource and a social and economic good, whose quantity and quality determine the nature of its utilisation.
Water in our region can become limiting because of a number of challenges that are there.

Our water systems are more vulnerable in the region because of issues of climate change and the issues of annual variations in terms of rainfall, but also issues of evaporation that we see.

Your Excellences, South Africa does not have a national water crisis at present.

However, a number of serious problems we experience currently they could cause to be the seeds of future crises.
Therefore, our water related problems could have a UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 43 negative impact, causing our country’s socio-economic imperatives to take the turn for the worse.

We must also be mindful of climate change that has a significant impact causing floods through limited in some areas in our localities.

The drought that we have seen in some parts of the country as the Minister has spoken to.
Many opportunities offered by the water sector and development and social transformation will have to be exploited very positively.

We are on course with Minister Mchunu and Mam Magadzi to ensure that we harness water security in South Africa for the benefit of all.
We would also be deploying technology that is very destructive to ensure that we are fully secured as a country and the international experts are also saying that not primarily that the results of security but we must recognise that water security is determined by the success or failure of country’s socio and economic importance.
Therefore, urgent measures are being taken by the Minister as indicated in his address to ensure that our water systems they remain the life blood of the nation around the whole country.

We UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 44 are also on course in achieving the United Sustainable Development Goals, UN SDG, House Chair.
We must indicate that the ANC-led governments over the last 28 years, we have done well to ensure that access to water to many South Africans.

As we speak, access to water stands at about 90%, access to sanitation around 83%.

But, we as the ministry we are the first to admit that more still needs to be done, especial for rural communities.

As directed by the President and the Minister we shall leave no South African behind, when it comes to issues of access to water and sanitation.
We are increasing our capability on research, working with our Water Research Commission, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR, and the other institutions.

And, also ensuring partnerships that Minister has spoken to.

In investing in skills revolution, climate change mitigation strategies and technologies required for the current epoch and future demands.

Our Department has promised before hon members we have delivered on our promise to regulate water and sanitation in our country.
We have delivered on the promise of the roll out on the Blue UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 45 Drop and Green Drop status.

And, the report is actually available.

We have seen how many water treatments have been looked at, this report now, it must be able to demonstrate the commitment by Minister to ensure that we transform our thinking of the waste water treatment system.
We must start to use science and engineering to ensure that we have the capability to treat waste water to acceptable water standard.

We must also be able to use these resource, like we have done with Ivanplats and Mogalakwena through Minister Mchunu, when we actually sight the Masodi treatment plant that is actual going to give used raw water for these issues and we want to confirm that even Polokwane they are also looking at this.

We managed to do these things within less than three months.
Our partnerships are actually working.

One of the issues around regulations, is the issues of the price of water that has been escalating over some time.

Minister Mchunu would be working with Minister of Finance.

They will able to ensure that our raw water pricing strategy is concluded before the end of this financial year in the third quarter.
UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 46 Because, we want to create certainty and be able to do investment.

Also the other issue we are dealing with, is the issues of polluter pay principles.

There’s a lot of pollution that is happening, we want to confirm that our waste discharge charge system is being piloted in the three catchment management areas.
We want a zero charging to ensure that all our systems are working before implemented in the next financial year.

Polluters are warned, they must stop pollution or they would pay!

We are also doing ...

[Inaudible.]

... resource poor farmers and we are struggling to improve transparency around water allocation reform.

Working with the Minister of Agriculture, the issues of Vaalharts would be supporting those communities in the Northern Cape and the other irrigation schemes.
Our Anti-Pollution Task Team is working hard led by myself.

We are actually have dealt with pollution in the Vaal.

There are areas where the sewer is no longer spilling into communities.

But, more work still needs to be done in the Vaal system, so that we don’t pollute Free State, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape and Namibia.
But, more importantly even in Kroonstad, issues of UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 47 spillages, they must come to an end.

We are doing environmental ... there are environmental inspectors that were brought in, there is a multidisciplinary team that are doing all these, more 480 audits, they have also been done by the department.

These are some of the issues that we wanted to highlight.
But, more importantly we are also attending to the issues of sewer spillage that is happing in supporting eThekwini as they are actually recovering from the issues of the drought.

We would also want to indicate that we will publish the first “No Drop Report” by march 2023.

We are introducing that Your Excellences.

Around dam safety, we are working around the bulk infrastructure to maintain them, ensure safety of our people because we don’t want to be losing more people.
But at the very same time we want our dams to be used by communities.

The areas around dam, for recreation so the communities they can be in a position, themselves to benefit.

We are proceeding with the issues of ...

[Inaudible.]

... reform our Catchment Management Agencies will be there.
Currently those UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 48 three, we actually expanding to the six ‘proto-Catch Management Agencies, CMA’s’ we are looking at their roles and responsibilities and giving them more powers.

Around water pricing and tariffs, the Water Economic Regulation Committee, is on board.

We are concluding that and the two Ministers, they will have conference.
We want also to ensure that we create jobs House Chair, through our own programme of infrastructure development, water conservation, waste water treatment turnaround strategies, but also using asset management.

As a department, we remain steadfast and on course towards building a truly united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic society as envisioned in the freedom charter and our Constitution.
As indicated in my introduction House Chair, the challenges we face, they are too big, but they are not insurmountable.

Our collective effort and resilience of our nation it will see us through.

Let us remain vigilant of the dangers faced by our revolutionary advancement but we should never be rigid, inflexible or inactive to change.
We remain inspired by our UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 49 shared aspiration and by the desire to create and fulfil our promise of a better life for all.

God bless South Africa, her sons and daughters I thank you House Chair!

Ms C SEOPOSENGWE: Hon Chairperson, through our research and innovation we will lead new water and sanitation technologies.
Hon Chairperson, as the ANC we support the Department of Water and Sanitation and its entities for Budget Vote No 41.

We are convinced that through research and innovation conducted by the Water Research Commission, will lead to the creation of new water and sanitation technologies that will positively impact our society.

Farming must be made available for research and innovation.

Knowledge and production through quality research is very critical for the development of our society.
However, the research process is costly and takes a long time to produce quality results.

We acknowledge the fact that in our country where the public entity that is dedicated for water and sanitation research to inform government policy and decision-making processes.

For 2021 to 2022 financial year the Water Research Commission UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 50 received an allocation of an amount of R296,765 million.
While for this current financial year, it received an amount of R361 million from the national Department of Water and Sanitation.

As the ANC acknowledge the amount of the allocation, we are of the view and are serious about the development of the new technologies which will have a huge socioeconomic impact in our country.

The budget for the Water Research Commission should be increased.
The increase of the budget will mean that the department will be able to recruit and retain critical skills within its empowerment.

Further, it will mean that the new technologies produced by the commission will be government- owned with the government heading intellectual property, IP, returns on that knowledge.

Concerning climate change compliant innovation, we have experienced the impacts of climate change in our country.
The recent droughts in certain parts of our country, as we would have heard about the recent devastating and calamitous situation in Gqeberha and the surrounding areas, but also the UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 51 April droughts impact of climate change in various vulnerable communities in our country.
Hon Chairperson, we happy to report to the Water Research Commission launched a project entitled the “Adaptive response and local scale adaptation for improving water security resilience to climate change in selected communities in Giyani” in the Limpopo province.
According to the Water Research Commission, the main objective of the project is to make local communities from Giyani area climate resilient by developing Water Energy Amenities that both addresses water shortages, but also stimulate economic activity and growth.

Last Wednesday it was reported in the Daily Despatch an Eastern Cape provincial newspaper that residents of Masele under the Ndlambe Local Municipality had to walk more than five kilometres to the nearest river to get water.
The Ndlambe Local Municipality is one of our municipalities which their dams have been affected by climate change and a desalination water plant has already been commissioned and operational.

The Water Research Commission key focal area for this financial is UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 52 on desalination of sea water.
The outcomes of which will be of much assistance to other communities which have the same experiences as the Masele community.

New and innovative equipment within the water and sanitation sector will create new industries.

Hon Chairperson the new and innovative equipment must not only deal with service delivery challenges as they relate to water and sanitation, but more also address the socioeconomic development of our communities through the development of new industries.
This is one of the key strategic goals of the Water Research Commission which is to produce new intellectual property or have the ability to introduce innovations that create new or improved technologies, products and services that can be used in the real economy.

Hon Chairperson, as the portfolio committee, we have noted that a number of new technologies produced through research conducted by the Water Research Commission is underutilised by the government.
We have recommended that the Department of Water and Sanitation, Water Research Commission, the Department of UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 53 Trade, Industry and Competition with the Department of Co- operative Governance and Traditional Affairs should collaborate and ensure the uptake and develop industry for the mass production of new water and sanitation technologies.
Mass production of this new water and sanitation technologies will contribute in job creation and economic growth in the country.

Hon Chairperson, through new innovative water and sanitation system, our government will fast-track service delivery.

The Water Research Commission, is committed in addressing the backlog in water and sanitation delivery in our country, with a particular focus on sanitation in our public schools.

We commend the work that the commission has undertaken in this regard.
Close to 4 000 public schools, have no adequate sanitation facilities in our country.

In response to this challenge, the Water Research Commission in collaboration with the Department of Basic Education, have initiated a programme of sanitation appropriate for education initiative by piloting a new innovative next generation technology.
UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 54 Key to this new technology is the ability of the sanitation system to trait waste water for reuse in the same system.

The project has been implemented at the Tsholetsang Primary School in the Gauteng province, using new technologies as an alternative to flashing toilet system.
Hon Chairperson, South Africa is a water scarce country, therefore, we must ensure that we utilise innovative sanitation technologies that will save fresh water use.

According to the Water Research Commission between 40 and 50% households water combustion is used for domestic sewerage.

It is with this background that the Water Research Commission has directed new research for alternative and innovative sanitation system.
The programmed research would be done under the Sanitation Transformation Initiative, SaNiTi, which not only seek to address the sanitation challenges in our country, but also ensure that new industries emerge out of this research to create jobs and the socioeconomic development of the various communities in our country.
UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 55 With regards to water conservation and water resource management - water availability is not only reliant on the rain fall that the country receives in a particular year, but it is also about the ability of the country to conserve, harness and harvest our portable water.

One of the challenges facing water is water leaks.


The Department of Water and Sanitation has implemented a War on Leaks Programme to deal with the scourge of water leaks in our municipalities, which municipalities must embrace as that is where the war will be lost or won.

The Water Research Commission has produced a new technology aqua trip which detects leaks then switch off water supply and it reports the leak to a main system so that the leak can be attended to by municipality officials.
This new technology will not only deal with water leaks but will conserve water in our country.

Hon Chairperson, we support the Budget Vote No 41 with the full-knowledge of the strides that are being made by the department and its entities in the provision of clean, UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 56 drinking water and for proper sanitation services for our people.
Setswana: Ga ese gore lefapha le la rona ga le dire sepe jaaka batho ba bangwe ba ba batlang go tla mo ba ngongorega.

Ba ngongoregetse ruri, mme ba sa kgone go tla ka ditsholofetso le ditharabololo tse di matshwanedi.

Ke a leboga.

Mr S M JAFTA: ...

[Inaudible.]

...

The ACTING HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr M G Mahlaule): Hon Jafta, hon Jafta!

Mr S M JAFTA: Hello, Chair.

The ACTING HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr M G Mahlaule): We can hardly hear what you are saying.

Can you try and get a better connection?


Mr S M JAFTA: Am I audible?

I will try.

Maybe you will come back for me, please.

UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 57 The ACTING HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr M G Mahlaule): Can you proceed now, you are better.

Mr S M JAFTA: Oh!

Okay, Chair.

I was saying that two things need to be emphasized here, though we support the Budget Vote.
One is that access to clean water is a constitutional right to every South African citizen.

Therefore, the department must make sure that this is ...

[Inaudible.]

... the local and the districts areas.

Hon Chairperson, most people still struggle to get water, let alone clean water.
One other thing that we need to emphasise is that the department needs to give attention to the informal settlements, clean water need to be provided in these areas and to improve their living conditions with regard to sewerage systems.

Otherwise as I’ve said, hon Chairperson, the AIC support the Budget Vote.

Thank you.

Mr M G E HENDRICKS: Thank you very much, hon House Chair.
Hon House Chair, 2 million incident reports and 90,000 folders of looting and corruption in water provision and proper sanitation is a very strong indicator of a failed government department.

This must be the worst government department on UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 58 earth.
How can the Department of Water and Sanitation expect any money from the fiscus if half of the money they get is expected to be looted in the new year?

Once again, this will be ...

[Inaudible.]

... against the sixth Parliament.

The human resource department’ need of offices is an embarrassment and must be really ploy.

They don’t make the cut.

They must immediately hold disciplinary hearings when cases arise, not drag these cases.
As we speak now, there are 100 new incidents and I hope they do it better.

So, no money to give the poor people and water continue to be compromised.

Forensic reports are unnecessarily delayed.

Labour discipline is based on a balance of probabilities and not onerous standards of the courts.

Can the Minister of Police tell this to the new director- general?

The first ...

[Inaudible.]

... resistant fighter to bring down apartheid came from the former Transkei.
Let me name, Walter Sisulu, yet residents are the last to get water.

Their sons were hanged, persecuted, tortured and jailed in solitary confinement.

Last night we debated how every level of staff in the Department of Water and Sanitation and its entities looted R38 billion and why only R1 billion have so UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 59 far been recovered.

So, uh, if Parliament cannot deal with water catastrophe, the ...
[Inaudible.]

... is doing South Africa proud and here I mentioned the Daily Maverick.

Every word that was written would bring a drop of water to children, women and the elderly and some dying of thirst, they must, please, keep this up and other media must join them because it doesn’t seem as if Parliament and everyone else is doing proper oversight, so, we must ask the media for help.

This ...

[Inaudible.]

... catastrophe must ...

[Inaudible.]

... the nation.


Like the Minister and his Chair has stated the Ministers and Deputy Ministers before him over the decade must fall on their swords.

Thank you very much, hon House Chair.

Mr A M SHAIK EMAM: Thank you, House Chairperson.

Chairperson, this particular department is in a crisis and it has been in a crisis for many years.
Now - and I’ve said this before, Chairperson - you can bring Ministers, you can change the Deputy Ministers, but you’re not going to solve the problem in this department.

I know for a long period of time there’s been acting director-generals, DGs, and acting deputy-director generals, DDGs.
UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 60 I’m not surprised, Chairperson, that there were some officials from the Alfred Nzo District that were arrested for corruption and looting, because I remember under Standing Committee on Appropriations, six years ago, we highlighted corruption in the Mount Ayliff area.

Today, that department came again and again and again but will not divulge the information that we actually wanted.
So, I’m not really surprised.

You know, corruption, rooting, fruitless expenditure, wasteful expenditure is the order of the day.

Currently, as we stand, Chairperson, and you look at the statistics, 3 million households do not have access to reliable drinking water and 14,1 million people do not have access to safe sanitation.

Only 64% of households have access to reliable water supply.

Now, more than 20% of South Africans do not have access to safe sanitation.
I mean, how long are we going to go out without?

Let me give you a good example, Chairperson.

Eight years ago, eThekwini had a water loss of 27%, today it’s sitting as good as 50% water loss.

How are you going to deal with the challenges that people are facing?

The flood is only an excuse on what is actually happened.

The infrastructure in eThekwini alone had been UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 61 crumbling.
Let me tell you, the area of Nongoma in the Zululand District, people have to walk up to seven kilometers Chairperson, 28 years into democracy, to get some water and we think it is okay.

Clearly, I think there’s a lot of work needs to be done.

Now look at the investigation of the corruption in this department that started by the previous Minister, Minister Sisulu, and suddenly this entire thing appears to be getting suppressed.

Why?
Why?

Why is this investigation not being accelerated so those people that are corrupt and looting are brought to book?

I think it is time that we change the way we conduct ourselves, hon Chairperson.

Hon Chair, we talk about pit toilets, it continues unabated.
I got a call the other day from Mandlamasha Combined Primary School, near Dundee in KwaZulu-Natal, where they have been told that the department is not going to be able to provide them any assistance and deal with those toilets and the water problems that they’re having in those areas.

Now, how long are we going to continue with this?

How long are we going to employ the very same people?
That is why I said, if you’re going to deal with the challenges of the flooding in KwaZulu- Natal, you can put an oversight committee, you can put billions of rands, you are relying on exactly the same UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 62 expertise and skills that people who have been failing us year in and year out.

So, how are you going to actually make any difference?
The National Freedom Party supporting this Budget Vote is not doing it because we believe there is fantastic piece of work being done, but in order to be able to make progress, of course you going to need the budget, but I think a lot of us ... [Time expired.]

...

Thank you.

Mr N MYBURGH: Thank you, House Chair.


Hon members, it is my great honour today to address this House for the first time, and I feel privileged to be speaking in this particular debate since water is surely the most valuable resource of them all!
As we all know, water and sanitation determines both the survival and the dignity of every human being, it is non- negotiable, and yet today we are facing a looming water crisis, which has the potential to make the Eskom fiasco look like a minor hiccup.
One can only hope that the recent appointment of not only a new Minister, but also a new Director-General and chief UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 63 executive officer will bring renewed purpose and direction to a department which has until recently excelled in the fields of maladministration, fraud and theft on a scale seldom seen before.
This is a department, hon members, where literally billions of Rands has gone missing, R37 billion according to some estimate, money that should have been spent on national water security for all through infrastructure development.

Now the most recent Blue Drop and Green Drop reports tell an alarming story all on its own, with the Western Cape predictably as usual, the only glimmer of hope in the wake of massive failure elsewhere in the country.
Support and intervention is required in order to avert both a human and an environmental disaster.

And when it comes to the various water entities across the country, the story doesn’t get any better.

Take for example, the Overberg Water Board where its failure to provide water affordable and reliable to the agricultural sector is posing a serious risk to the economic prospects of that entire region.
UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 64 Hon members, the truth of the matter is that South Africa does in fact have enough water.

We are blessed with abundant sources of water which, if managed correctly, will sustain us well into the future.

But what is equally true is that water is being wasted on a massive scale, revenues are not collected, and little to no consequence management is being implemented.
And so interestingly precisely one hundred and twenty years ago, we heard about some in this House, and an icon of failed state everywhere none other than Vladimir Lenin, posed the following question when he asked: “What is to be done?” Now though Lenin usually came up with the wrong answers, at least he understood at that moment that drastic action was required.

And so Mr Speaker, as always the DA today wishes to help and assist the Minister and his department in coming up with the right answers.
We are after all a Party that believes in constructive engagement.

We want to see Water and Sanitation succeed because we want to see South Africa succeed.
We believe therefore, at a bare minimum, that the following needs to be done by the department: Firstly, support and intervention at UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 65 municipalities to be prioritised where there is evidence of good governance and decent financial management.

In other words, first help those who have demonstrated a track-record of good governance.
Secondly, demonstrate your commitment to human dignity by eradicating the bucket system everywhere in South Africa one and for all.

Thirdly, clean-up corruption, expedite disciplinary processes, and in addition initiate civil and criminal court proceedings against not only those officials that have resigned or run away, but also against those politicians who have been fired or redeployed.

Fourthly, dramatically increase expenditure on mega infrastructure development.
And as a government, stop treating the private sector as your enemy because they are not.

Instead, establish meaningful long-term Public Private Partnerships in order to augment accelerated infrastructure development.

UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 66 And finally, implement plans and measures to improve revenue collection and to recover monies owed to the department and entities.
Hon members, if these few simple patriotic steps are taken it will go a very long way towards meeting the nation’s legitimate expectations for water security and clean government.

In conclusion, House Chair, I know someone like it or not, I wish to remind the House that Winston Churchill remarked many years ago that the best investment anyone can make is to put milk into a baby.
Now whilst that still true today as far as infants are concerned, I am convinced that we can all agree that in South Africa today surely the best investment we can make is to put clean and affordable water into every household.

Let us now do that with a new convention and determination because we owe it to the people of this country.

Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Chair.

Ms G TSEKE: Thank you, Chair, good morning hon members, colleagues and other guests, UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 67 Setswana: Motl.

Modulasetulo, morago ga gore mokgatlho wa ANC o tsenye puso ka ngwaga wa 1994, o ntse o tsweletse pele ka go diragatsa kgang ya phetoloso loago go tlisa botshelo jo bo botoka jwa botlhe.
Re tshegetsa tekanyetsokabo e ya dimilione di le 17, jaaka e tlhagisitswe ke Tona ya Lefapha la Metsi le Kgelelo Leswe, gonne re a itse gore se se tsamaisana le moana wa phetolo wa go tshosolosa serodume sa maAforikaborwa ka go fitlhelela metsi le kgelelo leswe kwa ntle ga dikgoreletsi.

English: Chairperson, it is unacceptable that after 28 years into our democracy, we still hear formal housing using bucket system.
Our government had planned to eradicate the bucket system in the formal housing by the year 2014.

However, the target wasn’t achieved.

According the department’s Annual Performance Plan, only 10 798 bucket toilets are remaining in informal housing, and this will be eradicated by the end of this financial year, March 2023.
As the ANC in the portfolio committee, we have recommended that the department provide a detailed action plan and further said that the department must submit quarterly progress report UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 68 towards achieving these targets by March 2023.
As the ANC, we take seriously the issue of the bucket system and with that, we have recommended in the portfolio committee that the department must, with collaboration with Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, COGTA and the Department of Human Settlement, also regulate the mushrooming of informal settlement by allocating well suitable land with social amenities, such as water and sanitation services.
Furthermore, we said that this department must expedite the development of a National Sanitation Framework as a guiding document in the provision of adequate sanitation services.

We are aware that many of the challenges we experience in the provision of adequate sanitation and water infrastructure, is due to the impact of migration of people from rural to urban areas.
The migration of people to urban centres, puts a strain in the existing infrastructure of the receiving municipalities due to the limited human and financial resources to provide every household with adequate water and sanitation infrastructure.

Water is not only important because it is a constitutional imperative, it is also an economic resource for socio-economic UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 69 development of our country.
Just like any other resource in this country, its distribution has been skewed as a result of the legacy of colonialism and apartheid.

The ANC government, through the Department of Water and Sanitation has resolved to address this skewed water resource distribution also, by transforming irrigation boards into water user associations.

For too long, white commercial farmers have had an advantage in the distribution of water resources.
By transforming these irrigation boards, we are hopeful that the historically disadvantaged individuals.

The Africans, Coloureds, women and people with disabilities will now equitably share in the water resources which are closer to their areas of residence.

Furthermore, the President during his state of the nation address earlier this year, has committed that the department and its entities must reduce the backlog of water use licences by 80% by June this year.
We fully support this commitment to reduce the water use licence application backlog.

In our view, this has the potential to stimulate even economic growth in our country we so much need, and in turn will create job opportunities.
UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 70 The ANC will monitor the implementation of this 90 days processing of water user licence by demanding quarterly reports to be presented even to our portfolio committee.

In addition to that, we further requested details of the socio- economic impact outcome of the transformation of this irrigation water boards, to water user association.
The ANC government has prioritised infrastructure development economic recovery and reconstruction post COVID-19.

To demonstrate this commitment in delivering adequate infrastructure, the department has allocated 69% of this Budget to the construction of the renewed infrastructure, rehabilitation and refurbishment of existing infrastructure.

This year alone, the department and its entities is undertaking 193 ...

[Inaudible.]
[Inaudible.]

... infrastructure projects that are in construction phase, while another in regional infrastructure programme are to be completed by the end of this financial year.

A further 294 services infrastructure projects are under the construction phase with a further 115 water services infrastructure projects to be completed before the end of this financial year.

There is no doubt of the ANC government’s commitment in restoring our people’s dignity through proper water and sanitation services.
UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 71 Hon members, the ANC believes that the Catchment Management Agency and the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority, TCTA has a huge role in the transformation agenda of our country and the construction industry in particular.
We welcome the commitment of Breede-Gouritz Catchment Management Agency in allocating an amount of R15 million for procurement designated groups, women, youth and people with disabilities.

In addition, the Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Management Agency has also allocated an amount of 30 million for procurement of these designated groups for this financial year.
The portfolio committee was forthright with these catchment agencies that they must report back to the committee on how they intend to create much more needed jobs in our country.

The TCTA also with its huge budget allocation, is responsible for financing and implementing bulk raw water development in our country.
In addition to the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, which the committee visited in the previous year, ... engaged in other water projects which includes, amongst others, the ACID mine drainage, Mokolo Crocodile Water Augmentation Project in Olifants River, resource development and others.
UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 72 We welcome too the Budget allocated to Mzimvubu Water Projects which will provide water and other economic activities to thousands of people in the Eastern Cape.

We support you Minister.

As much as this project is long overdue, but really, as the portfolio committee, we support you.

We note also the Budget that is allocated to this big project.
We had observed that the participation of black-owned companies is limited within the procurement spend of the TCTA.

We therefore recommend that the department and the TCTA should provide a detailed report on how they are going to ensure that the transformation agenda of the country find expression even in this entity.

Hon members, corruption in government and our entities has become the order of the day.

Setswana: Batho ba itseela, ga ba sa utswa.

Madi a, ke madi a batlhoki.


MaAforika a batla ditirelo mo nageng ya rona.

English: Politicians are colluding with private sector just to collapse the state.

Corruption in this nature is anti-revolutionary.

It UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 73 erodes trust in government and undermines the social contract.

Corruption impedes investment with consequence effect on economic growth.
We therefore as the members of the ANC, supports Minister Mchunu and the Department of Water and Sanitation in ensuring that all those who have been ...

[Inaudible.]

... on acts of fraud and corruption face the might of the law of our country.

Your reports Minister, gives hope to the nation.

We therefore support you in making sure that the money which is stolen from the poor are paid back.

All officials who resigned prior to the start of the disciplinary actions must be brought to book.
We therefore support the SIU in making sure that they fast track the cases of fraud and corruption before them and report back to the portfolio committee.

Hon Shaik Emam, I think it is important that you attend the committee meetings.

We have received progress report from the department and the Minister, that as we are speaking currently - yes we acknowledge that the department was in Hollywood for many years - people have been acting, your Director-General, your Chief Financial Officer and so forth.
But since the Minister was appointed or was deployed in that department, in UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 74 December, they have been able to appoint the Director-General Philips.

He is here.

He is on the ground working.

He is working.

You must join him.

The CFO has been appointed, Ntate Frans Moatshe.

He is at work.

You must join him.


Different Deputy Director Generals, corporate, regulations, water services, are appointed but you are trying to grandstand in misleading the nation.

As we are speaking, top management has been filled in the department.

Hollywood is gone.

No more acting.

The Minister is serious about taking the work of this department serious.

So we must be able to attend our meetings.

As for hon Myburgh, I agree with you.

You are still new in that department.

We welcome you.
We welcome you.

As much as you are raising genuine issues, but you are new.

I think that you must work closely with hon Leon.

He has been a member since 2014.

He understands issues and we work very well with him.

As for the EFF, we had hoped that you have gone beyond political ...

[Inaudible.]

... but it is clear that there are serious challenges to getting into the ...

[Inaudible.]

... of robust debate.


Is it not hypocrisy that you do not support UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 75 this Budget Vote while you claim to be pro-poor.

Nevertheless, we will embrace you as the ANC.

The ANC never gets tired.


As for the matter you have raised in Musina, we have just received updates hon Minister, the media briefing, just now on the 13; that the main pipeline that has been prepared in Musina and the water supply has started flowing yesterday.

No lying area received water, whilst water could not reach high lying areas.

As we are speaking, the municipality is on the ground trying to address this matter.
We therefore request that the department must be on the ground in making sure that the communities of Musina are getting water.

Hon members, our role is to ensure that the ANC government restores the dignity of our people through the provision of quality water and sanitation.

Hon Minister, one speaker once said: You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.

But nonetheless, as long as you are stationery, no one will complain, nor utter a single wind.
Dogs don’t bark at parked cars.

They are barking at a moving car.

So continue, Minister.

UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 76 The ANC has given you a mandate to implement.

Which is that of bettering the lives of our people.

Continue, Minister.

We, as the ANC, we fully support Budget Vote 41.

Water is life.

Sanitation is dignity.

Thank you very much.

The MINISTER OF WATER AND SANITATION: Thank you very much Chair.
With everything said and done, it’s now time to indicate what budget we have to implement all this.

Firstly, the department and the water trading entity have been allocated a combined budget of R111, 256 billion over the medium term expenditure framework.

This consists of allocations of R34,976 billion in the MTEF that is 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 respectively.

The department’s budget consists of two components, the main account and the trading account.
The main account of the department has been allocated R59 billion over the MTEF and this consists of 18,5, 20,1 and 20,9 over the three-year period.

The main account budget includes conditional infrastructure grants for municipality services totalling 37,4 over the MTEF, it includes R19 billion UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 77 for the regional bulk that is R-BIC and R14 billion for the water services infrastructure.
Other grant will be spent on 113 different projects across the country which the grant being allocated to 200 projects across the country.

Hon members, it as an unormal which I would like us to note that municipal water services continue to decline while we make these very substantial grant allocations.

Now, mark my words, we are going to stop this going forward through necessary interventions of wanting to deliver water.
What makes the difference between the ANC and opposition parties like EFF as other members of the portfolio committee and NA have indicated, it is the delivery of water to communities that require budgets not slogans.

It is regrettable that they reject the budget yet point at challenges of water which requires budget.

We are however, wide awake to everything that everybody is complaining about, corruption and inefficiency and we agree that these must go.
We are committed to managing this budget UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 78 responsibly and effectively.

We have instructed our accounting officer and the team to ensue all compliance and improvements on unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

Those must go.
Those must go.

As a result of these, no new unauthorised expenditure was incurred in 2021/22, irregular expenditure which is still appearing at the department’s audited audit reports relates mainly to the, contractual obligation from prior periods.

We are determined to comply with treasury prescripts and to spend money responsibly, efficiently and effectively.
Hon members, the department has underspent on its allocated budget particularly that is historical on the budget allocated to infrastructure and these two must go under expenditure.

Of course this is unacceptable and that’s why the director generals instructed to make improvements in this area.

I will proceed to the issues of corruption, which is quite a concern and we are up to fighting corruption with all our engines and we will spin our efforts in doing this and we will succeed.
It is for this reason that we first concentrated on UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 79 appointing responsible people who will be able to account to the ministry at all times.
So, we now have the director general appointed, we have the CFO, Chief Finance Officer, fully appointed, we have a DDG, Deputy Director General, corporate services fully appointed, water resource management fully appointed, we have a DDG water resource management fully appointed as recently as Wednesday this week and then DDG in regulations and compliances also appointed this Wednesday.

The only DDG that is not filled is that of infrastructure due to problem that we are resolving.
Now, these people as a team will act as a buffer and a barrier to a large extend to these inefficiencies that I’ve indicated.

Now, everything in terms of investigations that are currently both internally and externally by SIU, Special Investigating Unit, SAPS, SA Police Service, and any other agency will be followed to the last drop and the last crossing of the tin.

There’s nothing to be swept under the carpet, there’s nothing ignored and this includes of course those who resign and run away.
We will follow them until the end including in terms of what they will have in their accounts when they resign civilly UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 80 and in terms of criminality.

We will follow them in that regard, follow each and every cent of the state and recoup it.
I just want say to the Nelson Mandela Bay people, you need to be warned that we have added 70 mega litres per day via Nooitgedacht which was just completed and gave them the first drop by the end of March.

Despite this, there are still accute shortages of water.

People need to conserve water.

That’s a very strong warning that we need to send to them, as well as individual households and companies.

There is scarcity of water and while we are exploring other means, please conserve water.
I want to guarantee that we will go on to improve water safety.

It is for this reason that we commission this report when the last one was done in 2013 and that is the Green Drop and is now our baseline going forward.

Next year March, we will be releasing the Blue Drop report and that too will be our baseline.

We do not want to issue out wrong messages; we want to base our report on water quality based on evidence.

Going forward, we will ensure that we improve in this regard.
UNREVISED HANSARD MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FRIDAY, 13 MAY 2022 VOTE NO 41 – WATER AND SANITATION Page: 81 Finally, it is true that infrastructure is the problem and we have to work on this matter drastically with municipalities who are the ones responsible for such infrastructure.

I urge hon members that all the time when it comes to corruption including media, to use their freedom but to speak on audited, authentic and factual accurate information not on just wild alarmist statements.
Thank you very much to the members of the portfolio committee and the Members of Parliament.

Thank you very much.

Sesotho: Re ya leboha.

Debate concluded The Mini-Plenary session rose at 11:56