Water challenges: hearings with municipalities
Meeting Summary
Several Municipalities briefed the Committee on their water provision and challenges around the supply of water in their areas. The
The
The OR Tambo District Municipality was challenged by numerous backlogs and ageing infrastructure, and a further challenge was that people tended to build without planning permission, which made regional planning difficult. The Municipality had developed master plans and was doing training. Members asked how the Municipality was dealing with provision of water, since only 35% of the population had access to clean water, and the plans to address water in rural areas.
The
The
Meeting report
Water quality in Uthungulu District municipality
Mr E Msomi, Head of Department: Technical,
With regard to the Municipality’s relationship with other role players, Mr Msomi told the committee that the Uthungulu water quality programme was monitored by two external institutions, namely the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF).
He also announced that the municipality had a water quality awareness programme, which was conducted through road shows and schools being visited during National Water Week.
Water quality in
Cllr Motalane Monakedi, Executive Mayor of
A further challenge was the fact that most of the communities in the district that the municipality used ground water, and thus the monitoring of water supplies was more difficult. In addition, the area that the municipality supplied was vast and thus it was very difficult to conduct sampling successfully.
To try to counter these challenges, the Mayor advised that the Municipality had put aside R12 million. Some of the challenges were historical. The Municipality also had an awareness program that created interaction between the municipality and the community.
Water Quality at OR
Mr Zoleka Capa, Executive Mayor, OR Tambo District Municipality, noted that the Municipality was situated in the former
Discussion
Mr M Sibuyana (ANC) asked how the
A member of the
Another Member of the Committee asked how old were the water pipes in some small towns had.
A delegate for the
The same Member then asked the OR Tambo Municipality how it was dealing with the issue of providing the population with water. It seemed that only 35% of the population in the area had access to clean water, and he had not seen any mention of the rural areas in the plans.
Cllr Capa, OR Tambo Municipality said that there was a plan in place to address the issue of water in rural areas, however there were many other issues that they had to deal with also. These included the relocation of amasimi, and thus there was a need for the Municipality to interact with the traditional authorities.
Ms S Manana (ANC) asked Capricorn to expand upon the remark that those previously looking after the water in the region did not follow protocol.
Mr M Ncuma, Water quality Manager,
Water Challenges in
Ms E S Dlamini, Executive Mayor,
Ms Dlamini said that the
Ms Dlamini noted that the functions of the WSA were to improve the efficiency of drinking water treatment plants, enhance the quality of water supply and efficiency of treatment procedures and to protect public health. It was noted that very little information was provided or available on ground water in the municipality. However, the National Water Resource Strategy (NWRS) had indicated that ground water in the Inkomati Water Management Area (WMA) was within the ideal range for domestic usage at any location. The conclusion was that ground water was very good in the WMA, with most boreholes within the class of quality range which made the water ideal for drinking, food preparation, bathing and laundry.
In relation to surface water quality, it was concluded that although this water quality was fit for its intended purpose, there were some concerns on the decline in the quality and increase in the threat of potential pollution activity. In addition the concentration of nutrients in the rivers had been increasing steadily, with the electricity conductivity also increasing in all the rivers in the Inkomati WMA.
The Mayor indicated that water quality tests had been conducted by Mpumamanzi, a private service provider, and that the results were tabled before the Technical Portfolio Committee on a monthly basis.
In order to ensure proper water service delivery policy directive, the
Ms Dlamini noted that the Municipality had no scientific skills, with one technician responsible for water quality, one assistant director responsible for civil works and some plant operators who formed part of a very small technical department.
She related that the Municipality had challenges in meeting international requirements as well as ecological requirements, due to constraints, and that concerns had also been raised on the equal and fair distribution of water. The attempts to address these challenges included continuous training that would be given to plant operators, the upgrading and refurbishment of treatment plants, and communities being notified in time about the quality of water.
The Municipality had received recommendations to develop an appropriate model for the Water Services Authority, develop and update water services development plan for
Discussion
Ms S Maine (ANC) said that she was very surprised to hear that the Albert Luthuli Municipality did not have problems with collapsing and outdated infrastructure,
Mr J Combrinck (ANC) said that he noted that the Municipality made use of consultants to perform water quality tests as they sometimes tended to be cheaper, but he expressed his concern with the measures the Municipality had been taking to ensure that the tests reflected accuracy.
Ms Dlamini replied that
Water Quality in
Mr Ngoako Ramathoka, Technical Director,
Mr Ramathoka said that the vision of the
The
He indicated that the main focus of water quality management in the WSDP was on water plants, and that the retail distribution networks and end user points had not regularly been sampled, with some bulk water distribution networks being regularly sampled. The Mopani District Municipality (MDM) had decided to mainly improve, enhance and better water service delivery to rural communities as water borne systems were mainly located in more urban areas.
He noted that in the
The MDM currently had fifteen water treatment plants, with the Olifant River Barrage and the Nkowankowa Water Works being two of the fifteen plants currently operating in the region.
The Municipality had identified insufficient surface water, threats to water ground water protocol, inadequacy and a shortage of personnel to monitor water quality as key challenges facing the municipality.
To address the challenges, the Municipality had entered into partnerships with various role-players such as DWAF, who provided the regulatory support, the
Mr Ramathoka said that the Municipality had not yet complied with the DWAF’s requirement to submit monthly reports, but assistance had been provided on the format of the report. In relation to the budget, it was noted that R6.5 million had been set aside for refurbishment, with another huge allocation for water related projects.
A graph illustrated the Municipality’s technical and scientific skills component to purify water (see attached graph). In order to ensure the effectiveness of water quality tests; physical, chemical and bacteriological tests were performed.
Discussion
Ms Maine said that she was surprised that the MDM did not have everything in place, given that they had an abundance of natural and other resources at their disposal. She added that the private businesses situated within the Municipality such as the
Mr Ramathoka replied that the
Mr M Sibuyana (IFP) said that the Maroleng water supply problems had been in existence for some time, and that he thought these would have been sorted out already.
Mr Ramathoka replied that a huge pipeline was in the process of construction, which would supply the whole area of Maruleng, with the water quality being of very high standard. R11 million had been set aside for the purchase of a water supply facility, currently owned by a private entity.
Mr Sibuyana said that the MDM consisted of five different municipalities that received their water primarily from one dam. In light of this, he asked whether the Municipality had considered building another dam, especially with the changing weather patterns.
Mr Ramathoka replied that the MDM’s only dam had reached a capacity of 11 %, but the provincial government had indicated that it would build a large dam in Tzaneen to service most of the areas. In addition, R30 million had been allocated to service 10 villages at once .An awareness campaign had been launched to educate people to use water more sparingly.
Mr Combrinck asked what the situation was around debt owed by the Municipality to the Lephalele Water Board (LWB).
Mr Ramathoka admitted that the debt owed to the Lephalele Water Board (LWB) had indeed resulted in a thorny issue. He said that the problem was two fold as old debt had been taken over by the WSA and the allocation of R45 million by the DWAF helped to service debt of R120 million. The DWAF had indicated to the LWB that it was not willing to pay the interest on the debt. The current debt was an issue of concern as moneys paid for water services were first being allocated to initiatives other then water services, as services had been the last priority on the Municipality’s Priority Report. The best solution would be for the money to be paid directly to the LWB. The existing priority system had now been changed as there had been many operational problems. The system would be up and running in two months, with water as a top priority.
The meeting was adjourned.
Audio
Documents
- Wessa presentation
- Ngwathe Local Municipality presentation
- Water Institute of Southern Africa presentation - Part 3
- Water Institute of Southern Africa presentation - Part 2
- Water Institute of Southern Africa presentation - Part 1
- Uthungulu District Municipality presentation - Part 3
- Uthungulu District Municipality presentation - Part 2
- Uthungulu District Municipality presentation - Part 1
- O R Tambo Municipality presentation
- Mopani District Municipality presentation
- Capricorn District Municipality presentation
- Capricorn District Municipality submission
- Albert Luthuli Municipality presentation
Present
- We don't have attendance info for this committee meeting
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