The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) will establish a schedule three institution to accelerate the issuing of water use licences.
This follows after Water and Sanitation Minister Gugile Nkwinti expressed his intention, during a Ministerial Innovators Interactive Session that was hosted in Gauteng, on Saturday, to establish a licensing body.
“The delay [in] the issuing of the licences to businesses, especially emerging farmers, can no longer be tolerated. Government should not be seen as a stumbling block to enthusiastic entrepreneurs who wish to contribute towards the country’s economic development,” he said in an address to about 400 delegates at the event.
Moreover, Nkwinti announced his intention to appoint a Ministerial Advisory Council before the end of December.
The proposed council will comprise water experts, water scientists and civil engineers, and will advise the Minister on matters related to the work of the Ministry and the DWS.
“This matter of the department working in silo mode must come to an end. I want to remove all bureaucratic processes so that the department can deliver its mandate without any further delay.”