The Department of Water Affairs (DWA) on Monday reported that an estimated four-million South African citizens were still without access to potable water and that the threat of climate change could serve to worsen matters in future.

Speaking at the KwaZulu-Natal Water Summit, Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said that climate change would impact future availability and that government was, therefore, giving emphasis to both mitigation and adaptation strategies.

A key strategy related to ensuring that water resources were managed in a manner that enabled the provision of reliable and cost effective water services on a sustainable basis.

Ageing water infrastructure, the unauthorised connections would have to be dealt with, as would the prevailing shortage of skills at all three spheres of government.

“We will not be able to provide clean, reliable water and good sanitation facilities to our people if we do not ensure that the resource itself is protected, allocated and managed efficiently. We must also ensure that the past inequities in the allocation of water resources and access to services are redressed as speedily as possible.

Sonjica stated that the availability of water in the KwaZulu-Natal province remained skewed and that an equitable allocation of water, under the aegis of the water allocation reform (War) programme, was a departmental priority.

A pilot War study in the uMhlathuze catchment indicated that a significant volume of water could be redistributed. The project would be followed up by a water-use verification and compulsory licensing process, which would provide the framework to ensure that historically disadvantaged emerging farmers received a fair allocation.

She further noted that as a result of short-sightedness of developers from the previous dispensation, communities were living next to the big Jozini Dam in the uMkhanyakude District and the Woodstock Dam in the uThukela District for decades without directly benefiting from these two single purpose dams. 

“This will now be addressed. Development options to use water from these dams to supply domestic water services and to support micro-economic development in the adjacent areas will be investigated and dedicated funding will be sourced to facilitate beneficiation of local communities.”

UNACCEPTABLE LOSSES

Sonjica emphasised the need for the judicious use of water and to enforce Water Conservation and Demand Management (WC/DM) by all water users through all sectors. It has been reported that in some areas the water losses are as high as between 35% and 40%.

“This is totally unacceptable as water is a limited commodity and wise use of water can extend the benefits derived from a drop of water. We, therefore, have to encourage and promote the re-use and recycling of water in order to conserve this precious life-giving resource.”

The extreme levels of poverty in many areas of KwaZulu-Natal also required that effective policies were implemented as a matter of priority. It was for that reason that the DWA has piloted WC/DM in a number of districts in the province. The emphasis was on the four pillars of the WC/DM where social, technical, financial and legal/institutional interventions are applied, Sonjica stated.

She further added that the planning and the provision of infrastructure was only the start of providing water and sanitation.

“Our plans and high quality infrastructure will be of no benefit if good management of operations is not practiced to ensure reliable, effective and efficient service, to avoid dry taps, blocked toilets and polluted rivers. Water quality monitoring and response systems must be developed and put in place.”

The reliability and quality of service provision must also be monitored effectively. “We must have early warning mechanisms established to ensure that we are able to react to potential problems and prevent system failures.”