Hon Speaker and hon members, in response to the question asked by the hon member Wenger from the DA, I would like to indicate that the total amount outstanding owed by the municipalities to the water boards as at 31 December 2011 amounted to R2,1 billion. We have a detailed breakdown of this outstanding amount, which will certainly be circulated with this response. I just want to also say that 9 out of 12 water boards were owed R1,1 billion by municipalities as at the end of December 2011.
The highest debt was in three water boards dealing mainly with the rural areas which are Sedibeng District Municipality and Bushbuckridge and Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipalities. Together they owed R1 billion. This is as a result of the structural challenges that are faced by those water boards that are delivering water in the most rural areas. One of the contributing factors is the fact that there is also poor management of consumer demands and payments by those municipalities who are responsible for retail services. More importantly, though, these are areas where you find mainly the indigent.
The debt age analysis indicates that a significant part of the debt is over 120 days. Bushbuckridge has been owed, for example, over the last two years. The debt has been unpaid for more than 120 days. The impact of this is that those water boards are actually unable to the expand provision of water services to the communities, and also the inability to achieve their mandates. Credit rating is also affected. The tariff increase is also affected negatively by the current debt.
However, the water boards' annual sales are almost R1 billion, and the debt add up to only about 10% of the annual sales to municipalities. There have been financial disputes in these municipalities which are affecting them, and the department did not sit back. We have intervened. Amongst others, the interventions deal with the very complex process of getting into meetings with separate parties to actually resolve those; collecting relevant data and documentation; analysing that documentation; preparing reports and recommendations; and also obtaining comments from other departments. We are working with Treasury and the Department of Co- operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Cogta, in this regard.
The department, Treasury as well as Cogta have also done the interventions in Sedibeng, as alluded to in the document. We have an outstanding amount of about R14 million, and Matjhabeng Local Municipality is duly paying monthly, but some of the debt is being disputed. The dispute is being handled though. Thus in Bloem Water vs Kopanong Local Municipality, we have also intervened. To date, the board received part of the payment. This also applies to Lepelle Water vs Mopani District Municipality, where the head of department and the provincial head of Cogta are also supporting that municipality in terms of resolving that dispute. It is the same in Bushbuckridge.
I would like to indicate that broadly, in the department, we are currently finalising the work on institutional realignment that is intended to ensure that we lead to a situation where the water boards that are wealthier or that are empowered actually function in the areas that are poorest. Thank you. [Time expired.]
Mr Speaker, hon Minister, thank you very much for the reply regarding the question. Minister, there has been some improvement in payment to the water boards by the municipalities. However, too little, too late! Some of the water boards are experiencing major crises and problems in extending their services to needy communities. Though it is commendable that you will be liasing with the Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, I would like to know: Are the water boards being crippled in extending their services and maintenance to the communities in order to provide water? Thank you.
Hon Speaker, what I actually said is not that we will be working with Cogta; we are currently working with Cogta and Treasury, and we have also been working with them in the past. As I have indicated to you, there are some challenges that are referred to, including the capacity of those water boards to manage their own affairs, and also their inability to achieve their mandates.
This is not suggesting that the situation is that bad. I have also illustrated that there are some water boards, especially those that are in dire trouble, where we have intervened. The municipalities have already begun paying back to those boards. So, the repayment sometimes stops and we intervene, and at times it doesn't. The situation is not as bad as we think, but we should really ensure that we work on the electorate, who are actually supposed to be paying for those services.
I did indicate that these are the boards that are mainly operating in areas where you find the poorest of the poor, the indigent. The question is not only about intervening ourselves as a department but to work on ensuring that our people are empowered and are also getting jobs so that they are able to pay for these facilities. Thank you.
Speaker, thank you. Minister, my follow-up question is to what extent is the Department of Water Affairs prepared to advance section 44 of the MFMA to hold the municipalities accountable for their bad debts, and whether there has been any discussion between Cogta, National Treasury and SA Local Government Association, Salga, to ring-fence the moneys allocated for water service delivery and provision by the municipalities. Thank you.
Hon Speaker, as I indicated, we are intervening collectively with Treasury and with Cogta. One of the things that we have not started doing is to consider how we must compel. We do believe that those municipalities and the water boards require our undivided support in ensuring that the debts are paid. I did indicate that there is part-payment from time to time.
So, we actually can say, let there be ring-fencing of this money and let Treasury pay it over. The reality of the matter, though, is that as we do that we will also be crippling those municipalities at the same time. We do understand that the challenge is not only with our water boards, it is also with those municipalities that are in the poorest of the poor areas. There is a twin challenge here, which we have to ensure that we solve at all times. Thank you.
Speaker, Minister, at the beginning of Water Week, there were workers of Johannesburg Water who were marching, and amongst the placards they were carrying, one said:
Imagine a day without drinking water.
Basically, many people in South Africa still do not have access to water, so they cannot even ``imagine a day without drinking water''.
The issue with regard to these municipalities which do not pay is not only that they serve the poorest of the poor, but also that those particular municipalities are being run by people who are incapable of running them.
Are you, in terms of your interaction with other departments, insisting that the municipalities appoint people who are able to deliver the services that are required?
Hon Speaker, I am sure the Minister of Cogta will be able to talk about the appointment of people in those municipalities. What am I doing? In our support to those municipalities, we have set up teams that are called rapid response teams. Amongst these teams, there are members who are engineers, technicians, and people who are administratively clued up in order for them to support those municipalities so that there are responses to the biggest challenges that we are facing continuously where people still do not have access to water.
We are mindful of that challenge. It is not something that we think should stay as it is, but it is also a problem that is not insurmountable. We are working with those municipalities on a daily basis. Of course, we must also acknowledge that there are some areas, in those municipalities, where our own infrastructure is badly worn out and very old. The funds are so limited as well, which is something that we must consider dealing with.
I am happy that, through the PICC, the programme that our President is leading, we are working with Cogta and other departments in relation to ensuring that we actually assist those municipalities, either financially, resources-wise, skills-wise and so forth, in order to be able to capacitate them adequately for them to function properly and supply people with water, as hon member Kganare is saying. Thank you.
Hon Speaker, my question was about the water boards. Fortunately, the Minister has replied to my question. Thank you.
Envisaged steps to alleviate fears among minority language speakers
67. Ms T B Sunduza (ANC) asked the Minister of Arts and Culture: Whether, with reference to the project of redressing the past, he intends taking any steps, other than introducing legislation, to alleviate the fears of discrimination and alienation among minority- language speakers; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) what steps and (b) how will these steps be implemented?