Sun City: Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister, David Mahlobo, has called on municipalities in the North West to prioritise the assets of water and sanitation services to ensure sustainable water provision to communities. Mahlobo made the call at the annual South African Local Government Association (SALGA) Provincial Members Assembly, held recently at Sun City Convention Centre.

According to South African Government News Agency, the Minister joined North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Deputy Minister, Seiso Mohai, and North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, Oageng Molapisi at the event. Speaking at the meeting, Mahlobo said while North West municipalities have ensured basic access to clean drinking water over the last 30 years, their recent performance has declined regarding water provision services to the people due to ageing water infrastructure and the illegal connections to the systems by communities.

He said there was a
waning quality of drinking water and an increase in loss of water from water infrastructures, according to the Blue Drop, Green Drop and No drop reports released by the Department of Water and Sanitation, last year. Despite numerous water projects implemented through Operation Bulela Metsi – a provincial initiative geared towards enhancing access to consistent and reliable water supply in North West province – Mahlobo said there was still an urgent need to address water and sanitation challenges in the province.

Mahlobo said water availability and reliability in certain areas within the province has moved from about 92% to close to 52%. ‘We are now at a point as municipalities to improve water services. We should continue to work together as the different spheres of government to turn the situation around and ensure water efficiency in the province,’ Mahlobo said. The Deputy Minister called for technical interventions by municipalities to address the water efficiency challenges.

He advised the municipalitie
s to implement measures of water flow restrictions and pressure management to regulate water availability, maintain and replace water pipes, and urgently address small and large water leaks in both public and private water networks. He encouraged a behaviour change from communities about their water consumption, highlighting that there are some municipalities that cannot provide communities with water.

He assured the department did not intend to take the municipalities’ powers as the Water Services Authority. However, a possible solution is for the poor performing municipalities to use Section 78 of the National Water Act to appoint capable water service providers, be it another municipality, a water board or an entity that has financial and technical capability to deliver the services, to execute their functions while they build their capacity.