Quality and reliability of municipal water and sanitation has deteriorated over last decade

VAAL TRIANGLE - The water and sanitation sector is grappling with numerous issues, leaving South Africans without access to clean water and safe sanitation. Addressing the media, minister Pemmy Majodina says communities still lack basic services as municipal water systems deteriorate leading to unsafe drinking water and environmental pollution. She says financial sustainability is threatened by mounting municipal debt to water boards.

Meanwhile, Build One South Africa has criticised Water and Sanitation minister, Pemmy Majodina, for shifting the blame for the water supply crisis from her department onto municipalities. The department has been allocated 42.6-billion-rand this financial year to optimise the country’s water resources. BOSA’s deputy leader, Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster, is calling on the minister to launch an investigation to ascertain which municipalities are struggling to distribute water and then to instruct the transfer of distribution to capable non-profit organisations and private service providers.

PHOTO: (Supplied)