Cape Town - The Water and Sanitation Department is strengthening its regulatory role over municipal water and sanitation services to mitigate against the total collapse of services and infrastructure.
This follows the deaths of 26 people following the outbreak of cholera in Hammanskraal.
Responding to parliamentary questions from EFF MP Rebecca Mohlala, Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu said the reliability of municipal water and sanitation services was generally deteriorating as evidenced by the Green Drop and Blue Drop assessments.
“During this financial year we will be consulting on updated and more comprehensive norms and standards for water and sanitation services, in terms of the Water Services Act.
“We will also publish a National Regulatory Dashboard showing the extent of compliance with the national norms and standards for water services for all water service authorities, drawing on existing monitoring information,” he said.
Mchunu also said they were in the process of introducing standardised regulatory enforcement protocols to be implemented by the department’s regional offices.
“One of the underlying causes of the decline in municipal water services, both in terms of the reliability of service delivery and in terms of financial sustainability, is the non-implementation of certain key requirements of the Water Services Act by municipalities.”
He noted that the Water Act distinguished between Water Services Authorities and Water Service Providers, and that required municipalities to separately manage and account for the two roles.
The act further required water services authorities to ensure that water service providers supplied access to efficient and sustainable water services to everyone.
“Almost all water service authorities have been failing to do this.
To address this, we are considering introducing some amendments to the Water Services Act with the aim of further clarifying the roles, responsibilities and functions of water services authorities and water services providers, setting minimum standards for the functioning of water services providers, which must be enforced by water services authorities, and providing the minister with powers to regulate these matters.
“We will be consulting on these proposed amendments with a view to taking them through the cluster system to Cabinet during this financial year,” he added.
According to Mchunu, when municipalities failed in their mandate to ensure compliance in terms of wastewater and effluent spillages, various legal frameworks could be initiated to address the contraventions.
These included affording the affected municipalities an opportunity to rectify non-compliances within certain time frames.
“When users are non-responsive, the department proceeds with either or both criminal and civil enforcement actions. Criminal sanctions can also be instituted against the municipalities guided by Criminal Procedure Act on violations related to wastewater and effluent spillages.”
Mchunu said his department had issued 83 directives from January 2021 against municipalities that had failed to manage sewage causing pollution.
“Five criminal charges were laid against municipalities because of non-compliance with the directives issued.
“Two criminal charges were laid and finalised against Randfontein and Thaba Chweu Local Municipalities whereby both municipalities pleaded guilty of all the charges,” he said, adding that both municipalities were subsequently fined by the courts for failure to adhere to the provisions of National Water Act.
Mchunu also said three cases were referred to the National Prosecuting Authority for a decision.
Cape Times