News Desk Reporter
Government is expanding water supply projects across the country as part of a renewed drive to improve access to clean water and tackle failing infrastructure.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said the latest interventions build on this year’s Mandela Day initiatives. They are aimed at delivering faster water solutions to communities that have gone without a reliable supply.
The National Water Access Acceleration Programme has already been rolled out in parts of Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. Projects include new boreholes, groundwater development, rainwater harvesting systems and the rehabilitation of existing water schemes.
Ramaphosa said the programme was designed to speed up the delivery of water services by using solutions suited to local conditions. It would reduce the need to wait for large and complex infrastructure projects.
“The programme is intended to shorten the time between identifying a community’s need and delivering a working water supply. It will use solutions suited to local conditions rather than waiting in every instance for large, complex infrastructure projects,” he said.
The programme was launched in Hammanskraal, where boreholes were handed over to residents. The Klipdrift Package Water Treatment Plant was also officially commissioned.
Ramaphosa acknowledged that poor maintenance, ageing infrastructure and weak municipal management had contributed to worsening water shortages in many parts of the country.
“We must acknowledge that in too many municipalities, government has not succeeded with the maintenance of infrastructure, to manage water services properly and to respond with sufficient urgency,” he said.
He said the National Water Crisis Committee, established earlier this year, was coordinating efforts to improve municipal water services. It is also focusing on increasing infrastructure investment, strengthening regulation and tackling corruption in the sector.
Government has allocated R156 billion over the next three years to water and sanitation infrastructure as part of its broader public infrastructure investment programme.
Ramaphosa said municipalities would continue receiving financial and technical support. He added that enforcement action would be taken against municipalities or officials who failed to comply with water and environmental legislation.
“Water security is among government’s most urgent priorities. Households and businesses experiencing shortages and outages have had enough, and underserved communities across the country still waiting for taps to be installed 32 years into democracy are justifiably tired of waiting,” he said.
He said the long-term goal was to secure reliable water access for all South Africans.
“Our ultimate goal is not merely to get over the current crisis, but to fulfil Madiba’s vision of all South Africans enjoying their constitutionally enshrined right to access to water and of this right being secured for generations to come. Water is dignity and therefore central to Mandela’s legacy,” he said.