Pretoria - There will be no job losses in the water and sanitation sector despite a countrywide reconfiguration of the role and functions of water boards.
This was the commitment of the Minister of Water and Sanitation Senzo Mchunu soon after the implementation of the plan, in his bid to help rural communities to access clean water.
Mchunu made the initial announcement before a virtual water and sanitation portfolio committee meeting on Tuesday, to respond to the resolutions of the National Assembly on several issues in the water and sanitation value chain.
He said the reconfiguration of water boards was meant to give adequate support to the under-capacitated Water Services Authorities to meet the ever-increasing demand for services by communities, and ensure adequate capacity with quality and skilled engineers.
Mchunu said the reconfiguration would address transformation challenges, increase water access to unserviced areas, enhance market capitalisation for infrastructure projects and reduce the skewed supply of water.
“This process will ensure that water boards provide water services to areas where there is no provision. However, this process is not an imposition, but due process is undertaken to bring on board all relevant stakeholders including Water Services Authorities in various provinces where these services are being extended to, to ensure that there is sustainable water supply in all parts of our country.
“The reality is that the expenditure to implement projects is too high and the demand for services is also too high, yet the delivery by government institutions is too low and we need to fix this as a matter of urgency.
“The reconfiguration of all water boards is an implementation of the resolutions of the National Water and Sanitation Summit held early last year wherein stakeholders converged to come up with ways to improve the sector,” Mchunu said.
He said he held consultations with all relevant stakeholders in KwaZulu-Natal with the view to create a single water entity by incorporating Mhlathuze Water and its boundary into Umgeni Water.
The process is expected to be finalised by the end of the month and a new board to be appointed in April.
Mchunu said the scope of Rand Water would be extended to cover the entire Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces, saying consultations with the affected stakeholders were ongoing and a gazette notice for public comments has been published and closed on Friday, January 27.
Lepelle Northern Water Board’s boundary was also being extended to service the entire Limpopo province. Technical discussions between Lepelle and Magalies Water to take over areas being served by Magalies Water were under way.
Meanwhile, Magalies Water’s scope expands to service the entire North West province, taking over from Sedibeng Water, which was disestablished last year.
Magalies Water’s functions and assets in Gauteng and Limpopo would be transferred to Rand Water and Lepelle Water, respectively.
Bloem Water will service the whole Free State and the Northern Cape as part of the reconfiguration.
“The utility has already taken over the staff, assets and liabilities from the disestablished Sedibeng Water with effect from August 2022. A new name has been proposed for this entity, to accommodate Northern Cape customers.
“The incorporation of Sedibeng Water into Bloem and Magalies water boards has gone smoothly, and transfer agreements have been signed and operational funds transferred to Bloem Water and Magalies Water, respectively,” he said.
In the Eastern Cape, Amatola Water’s scope has been extended to cover the entire province and all due processes were unfolding, while the process to select new board members was under way.
Mchunu has reiterated that the process of reconfiguration would not result in job losses, and it was only meant to strengthen capacity, improve institutional efficiencies and enable water boards to better support Water Services Authorities.
Pretoria News