Honourable House Chairperson,
As we consider the statement of the Minister, it is the view of the ACDP that the water security of our nation, is threatened not only by drought, but more importantly, by the efficient storing, distribution and utilisation thereof.
The ACDP commends the progress made, post-apartheid, in bringing piped water to millions of predominantly Black South Africans. In 2022, over 82,4% of households in the country had access to piped water either inside their dwelling or inside their yard, according to Statistics South Africa’s (Stats SA) Census.
Clearly, the greater problem to our water security is not that South Africa is a water scarce country, but rather in the vast majority of our municipalities, almost 50% of water purchased, is lost through leakage, broken pipes and theft. Added to this dilemma, 59% of our municipalities were insolvent as at September 2022, and the vast majority do not invest the basic amount required for infrastructure repairs and maintenance, including water infrastructure. Additionally, we have Water Boards at risk of bankruptcy and water tanker mafias, allegedly sabotaging water infrastructure.
The ACDP is aware of the initiative to develop the National Water and Sanitation Master Plan to provide a comprehensive schedule of actions needed to address present challenges, to estimate the investments required to ensure effective water resources, to improve water and sanitation services delivery, as well as to facilitate effective integrated investment planning, implementation of actions, and evaluation of achievements.
Honourable House Chairperson, as we face looming water shedding, the ACDP calls on this Department to fast-track building of desalination plants, to recycle our wastewater for agriculture use, upscale the use of drip irrigation, identify sustainable aquifers and make greater use of rainwater harvesting. We caution that if this Department does not address the lack of maintenance of infrastructure leading to broken or damaged pipes, then water security will become a broken pipe dream.
I thank you.
