Minister Senzo Mchunu approved the disestablishment of Sedibeng Water and the incorporation of its constituent parts into Bloem Water and Magalies Water, respectively.
Mchunu made this announcement during his three-day visit to the North West province this week. He further indicated that there will be a review of water boards broadly.
“Our intention in terms of Section 28 is to disestablish Sedibeng Water as an entity. This is also part of our decision to review water boards in terms of their specific mandate. But we want to touch the ceiling in terms of their mandates and not just supply halfway. Secondly, we will also review them in terms of their footprint but also in terms of their number.”
In Dinokana, North West, engaging with members of the community on water and sanitation challenges. The aim of this engagement is to correct the shortcomings which have led to these citizens having limited to no access to water. @DWS_RSA #ServiceDeliveryAcceleration pic.twitter.com/DkQtDu9YAi
— Senzo Mchunu (@Senzo_Mchunu_) February 2, 2022
However, calls for an independent water regulatory body are mounting as Sedibeng Water, which was bailed out twice in 2021, leaves behind a R7 billion debt owed to it by municipalities. The water authority, however, owes the Department of Water and Sanitation over R4.7 billion for raw water.
Water expert Dr Anthony Turton says, “The only way we can resolve this matter is by the creation of an independent, credible water regulatory body. But until that happens, the hundreds of millions that are constantly given out of taxpayers’ money to bail out incompetent, corrupt, broken institutions is simply going to carry on and as that carries on the water service will continue to fail.”
Furthermore, Magalies Water’s capacity to manage bulk water provision across the North West Province has come under question as areas that the water board operates in currently, continue to experience water challenges.
Some residents had this to say:
“We have no water. They switch the water off at night. Even right now we don’t have water but might get water tonight.”
“Sometimes we get water only once in a week for just 30 minutes and when the water comes it’s too dirty for us to drink.”
Be that as it may, Magalies Water says it is highly capacitated to deliver on its bulk water supply mandate.
Spokesperson David Magae says, “Our responsibility is to make sure that bulk services reach the residents of Kgetleng River while the municipality will then be responsible for reticulation that would be water from the reservoirs into the localised network. But we are very optimistic that the performance of Magalies Water, the futuristic plans put us in a better position to expand our footprint both in the North West and the Limpopo province.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Water and Sanitation is expected to gazette the extension of the areas of operation of Bloem Water and Magalies Water soon and provide a detailed roadmap of the disestablishment process.
NCYL in Lejwaleputswa calls on Sedibeng Water board to step down:
