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Plans afoot to turn around Water and Sanitation Department: Sisulu

Lindiwe Sisulu
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Water and Sanitation Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu says officials are working hard to turn around the troubled department. Sisulu addressed a virtual meeting of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on investigations into irregular expenditure in the department as well as at Water Boards.

Scopa heard that disciplinary steps have been taken against nearly 100 officials and just more than R3 million has been recouped so far.

The Department of Water and Sanitation has embarked on several investigations to clean up its act. They have taken steps against 97 officials, of which 13 have been dismissed.

Water boards have raked up irregular expenditure of billions of rands, and the Special Investigations Unit has been roped in to investigate.

Scopa Chairperson, Mkululeko Hlengwa, says too little is happening.

“We are dealing with a department that has not covered itself in glory when it comes to financial management. We are not happy with the slow pace of investigations and also prosecutions. We must get prosecuting authorities to explain.”

But Minister Sisulu says they are doing all they can to turn around a department that has not been performing well for years.

“I do understand the agitation of the committee, but also want you to understand the enormity of problems we are confronted with. The fact that we give you this report shows how determined we are to clean image of the department.”

She told Members of Parliament that the distribution of mobile water tanks across the country, is not sustainable, but a workable solution to ensure people have access to clean water in the time of COVID-19.

“The programme we embarked on of tanks, may not be sustainable, but indicates how far behind we are with people getting bare necessities … that is a constitutional right. We rode out 19 000 tanks, (which) shows more than 19 000 villages (are) without water. It is criminal.”

Some places are still struggling to get access to water: 

 

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