Considering the alleged dereliction of duty by municipalities in Gauteng while adequate water supply is a human right, what (a) are the reasons that she has not taken any further steps to intervene in water supply failures in Gauteng and (b) assurance will she give that she has the political will to resolve the water supply crises in Gauteng?
a) The Constitution assigns the responsibility of ensuring access to water and sanitation services to municipalities. The role of the national sphere of government is to support, monitor and regulate local government. In line with this role, DWS is required to set regulatory rules, norms and standards for municipal water and sanitation services in terms of the National Water Act and the Water Services ...
(1) What steps has her department taken to ensure that rural communities in Mnquma and Mbashe, in the Eastern Cape have access to clean and safe drinking water;
(2) whether her department has allocated any specific budget towards water purification and sanitation projects in the specified areas; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?
1. As a Water Services Authority (WSA), the Amathole DM is implementing projects to progressively address historical backlogs in areas such as the Mbashe and Mnquma Local Municipalities. Many settlements within these municipalities are being supplied with water through standalone schemes including boreholes. Efforts are underway to improve water supply through bulk regional water supply schemes that are intended to expand water provision to ...
(1) Whether any measures have been implemented to address the structural problems at the Bloemhof Dam in Northwest; if not, why not; if so, what are the (a) relevant details and (b) time frames in this regard.
(2) whether any measures have been implemented to prevent neighbouring towns and communities from being endangered by the Dam’s current structural defects; if not, why not; if so, what (a) is the safety classification of the Dam and (b) are the further, relevant details.
(3) whether she will issue a statement on the matter?
1. Yes, steps have been taken to address the structural issues at the Bloemhof Dam.
a) In 2005, the Department launched the Dam Safety Rehabilitation Programme (DSRP). This program was developed in partnership with National Treasury and aims to extend the lifespan of dam structures and improve their safety.
b) A contractor was appointed in 2024/25 to repair the upstream works which include the ...
Whether the (a) Deputy Directors-General and (b) senior officials of her department attended a meeting of a certain political party (details furnished) on 25 and/or 26 January 2025; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (i) who paid for the (aa) travel, (bb) accommodation and (cc) subsistence costs and (ii) what was the total expenditure in each case?
(a)(b) None of the Deputy-Directors-General and senior officials attended the meeting referred to in the details furnished on 25 and 26 January 2025.
(i)(aa)(bb)(cc)(ii) Falls away, please refer to (a)(b) above.
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(1) Whether, given the ongoing water crisis, her department has an emergency intervention plan in place to provide relief to affected communities; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether her department has considered deploying water tankers to the worst-affected areas; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
1. The provision of water services is a municipal function in terms of the Constitution. The role of the national government is to regulate and support municipalities in this regard, including:
- The Departments of Water and Sanitation (DWS), Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Human Settlements, and National Treasury allocate water and sanitation infrastructure grants worth more than R60 billion per annum to municipalities ...
What are the details of the top 10 municipalities that have returned the highest amount of (a) Municipal Infrastructure Grant and (b) any other grant administered by her department allocated for the upgrading and/or maintenance of water infrastructure (i) in each province (ii) in the past three financial years?
- The Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) is administered by the Department of Cooperative and Traditional Affairs. The Department of Water and Sanitation administers the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) and Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG). Therefore, DWS does not have access to MIG data.
- The details of municipalities which have returned funds to National Revenue Fund - RBIG and WSIG are detailed in the tables ...
Given that the National Water Resource Infrastructure Agency Bill has been enacted and assented to by the President, what processes will her department undertake to ensure its full establishment and operation to ensure a secure and reliable supply of water across the Republic as per the injunctions during the State of the Nation Address delivered on 6 February 2025?
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has put in place a governing structure with the TCTA to manage the transition to the South African National Water Resources Infrastructure Agency (NWRIA). Various workstreams have been set up which include members from both DWS and TCTA who meet on a regular basis. The National Treasury have been included in the workstreams as relevant. Outside specialists ...
(1) What are the full details of the long‑term plans that she has in place to ensure that no community in the Republic is without clean running water and proper sanitation;
(2) whether she will give assurance to the persons who live in the deep rural areas across the length and breadth of the Republic that they will not suffer because of lack of basic services such as clean running water and proper sanitation; if not, why does she not resign as Minister; if so, what are the relevant details of the assurance?
1. The provision of water and sanitation services is a function over which municipalities have executive authority in terms of Section 156 of the Constitution, read together with schedule 4 part B. The role of the national sphere of government is to support, monitor and regulate local government. The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is supporting municipalities to deliver on their mandate by ...
(a) What are the reasons that the residents of Ngwaabe, Ga-Masha, Tshehlwaneng, Schoonoord, Moretsele, Jane Furse and surrounding areas, including hospitals in the Sekhukhune District Municipality, are without clean drinking water and yet there is a R3 billion, 347-million cubic metre De Hoop Dam that was opened in the specified district municipality and (b) on what date will the communities in the district municipality finally see water flowing from their taps?
a) Ngwaabe, Ga-Masha, Tshehlwaneng, Schoonoord, Moretsele, Jane Furse and surrounding areas, in the Sekhukhune District Municipality (DM) are currently receiving water from the Malekana and the Vergelegen Water Treatment Works. Due to constrained distribution capacity, the Sekhukhune DM is rationed water supply to the areas in order to manage the high demand. The municipality supplies two hospitals in Jane Furse and Philladelphia through tankering; ...
Considering the ongoing Water Crisis in Gauteng, and the need for Rand Water to secure a permanent license to extract additional water from the Integrated Vaal River System, (a) what is the current projected cost of the Lesotho Highlands Water Phase II Project and (b) when is the project expected to be completed?
a) The current projected costs of Phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project are detailed in the table below.
|
Cost Category
|
Long Term Cost Plan (Nov 2024)
billion
|
Cost (to Nov 2024)
billion
|
|
Engineering
|
R 4 459
|
R 1 880
|
42,16%
|
|
Main Works
|
R 22 518
|
R 5 727
|
25,43%
|
|
Advance Infrastructure
|
R 8 618
|
R 6 546
|
75,96%
|
|
Administration and PMU
|
R ... |
