Parliament, Tuesday, 10 September 2019 –The Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation welcomes the assurance by the City of Tshwane that they have instituted consequence management processes for officials that cancelled a chlorine contract without having contingency measures to clean the water at the Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Plant. This led to the release of untreated water into the Apies River impacting the quality of water received by residents of Hammanskraal.
The committee is steadfast that the cancellation of the chlorine contract without a contingency plan was reckless and negligent, and placed the health of the people of Tshwane, especially Hammanskraal at high risk. Despite its vexation with the matter, the committee welcomes the assurance that the chlorine is now in place to treat the water before it makes its way into the Apies River. The committee has called for a regular update on the disciplinary process around the matter.
The committee is of the view that there was clear dereliction of duty on the part of the municipality in its interaction with residents of the City. The community leader informed the committee that the city informed them that they must bring scientific evidence to support their claim that the quality of water was not desirable. “For a municipality to tell its residents, who are mostly poor and unemployed, that they must bring scientific proof is both unfortunate and insensitive. The committee hopes that the city will use this crisis as a learning curve, and will in future interact better with residents,” said Ms Machwene Semenya, the Chairperson of the committee.
The maintenance of the entire water system remains a concern in Tshwane and across the country which must be urgently remedied. “It is unsustainable that municipalities on average, spend less than 10% of its budgets on water and sanitation especially because of the economic value of water and the health risk associated with water illnesses, especially because residents pay for water and sanitation as part of the rates and taxes. That money must be invested into infrastructure programmes on water and sanitation,” Ms Semenya said.
It is also concerning that there has been a general under-spending on capital expenditure by the City of Tshwane vis-à-vis what was budgeted since the 2008/2009 financial year. This is concerning especially in the context of inward migration which affects big cities such as Tshwane. The unintended consequence of under expenditure of capex is collapsing system that is perpetually at risk level. The committee is concerned that of the 15 Waste Water Treatment Works, only 2 are operating within design capacity and 4 are at a critical state. “It is unacceptable that South Africa’s capital city spends just over R400 million on water and sanitation capex in a financial year,” Ms Semenya said.
The clear lack of forward planning by the City of Tshwane as a water services authority and the National Department of Water and Sanitation is a concern that needs an urgent attention. “It boggles one’s mind why the municipality in 2004 had a masterplan that indicated that infrastructure expenditure had to take into consideration population growth, economic growth and development, ageing infrastructure and pressure points in the system yet no plans were implemented to take those items into consideration in their implemented programmes,” emphasised Ms Semenya.
That lack of planning will now result in crisis spending to remedy the challenges such as seen in Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Plant which will cost over R2 billion over two phases.
While the committee welcomes the commitment by the City and the department to work together to remedy the situation, the committee is of the view that more far-reaching actions must be looked at from both a governance and administration perspective to deal with issues of water and sanitation provision. The fact of the matter is that the majority of municipalities are failing and incapable of delivering on their legislated duty to provide services which require a look into.
“The committee is of the view that there is a need for a structural and systematic change on the entire water value chain rather than a “band aid over cracks approach", especially because there is a realisation that the system is under severe pressure,” Ms Semenya emphasised.
The committee has instructed the department and the City to provide regular updates on the interventions.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, WATER AND SANITATION, MS MACHWENE SEMENYA
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