Four parliamentary oversight committees from the Social Services Cluster – the Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy, the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation, the Select Committee on Social Services and the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements – today held a briefing to update the media and civil society organisations on various important service delivery issues and oversight priorities.
Issues discussed during the briefing included energy security, electricity prices, municipalities debt to water boards, implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI) and an update on investigations into the George building collapse, among other things.
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy, Ms Nonkosi Mvana, said the committee was concerned to see the return of load shedding in April after a period of about 10 months without any blackouts. However, the committee understands the challenges facing the energy sector, such as aging power stations that require frequent maintenance, which leads to down times and impacts on energy availability.
“It is a fact that the country requires additional energy generation and the renewable energy sector will fill that gap while we also wait for the planned nuclear programme. The committee will closely monitor the country’s nuclear programme, which includes the expansion of the Koeberg nuclear power station,” said Ms Mvana.
Her counterpart in the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation, Mr Leon Basson, spoke about municipalities’ debt to water boards, which currently stands at R22 billion and continues to grow. Mr Basson said this threatens South Africa’s entire water system as water supply to municipalities could collapse if municipalities fail to pay for services received.
The committee welcomes the national government’s intervention to address municipal debt by means of the division of revenue allocation to municipalities. Under this arrangement, a portion of the defaulting municipality’s revenue allocation will be withheld until it has settled its debt to the water board.
Mr Basson also raised concerns about delayed water projects and called for better planning, responsible budgeting and better project management. He also urged municipalities to ensure infrastructure is properly maintained to prevent water wastage due to leaks.
Ms Desery Fienies, the Chairperson of the Select Committee on Social Services, which has oversight over the departments of Health, Social Development and Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, said her committee is engaging the Department of Health on the implementation of the NHI.
While acknowledging that NHI implementation is a protracted process rather than a single event, Ms Fienies highlighted: “We need to enhance our primary healthcare, which includes mental, sexual and reproductive health, and also strengthen the human resources in the department for the effective implementation of the NHI.”
Giving an update on the George building collapse in which 34 people died in May last year, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, Mr Mammoga Seabi, said it is regrettable that the investigation uncovered administrative lapses. “The committee calls for a review of the internal systems at the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) and for officials to be held accountable and the families of the victims to get justice,” he said.
Mr Seabi also commented on the problem of blocked housing development projects, saying this is one of the committee’s oversight priorities, as it delays service delivery and also has negative financial implications. The committee wants the department to blacklist underperforming contractors who delay infrastructure projects.
“The committee will prioritise programmes to unblock stalled projects and will also be focusing our oversight on underspending by metropolitan municipalities on the Urban Settlement Development Grant,” he said. The grant is meant to fund the provision of human settlements in the metros and upgrade informal settlements.
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