Minister Pemmy Majodina outlines plans for 2024/205 financial year before NCOP

Delivering her maiden Budget Vote Speech before the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in Parliament on Tuesday, 16 July 2024, the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Ms Pemmy Majodina has committed the 7th administration to turn the tide in reducing the water and sanitation services backlog.

Minister Majodina highlighted that more emphasis will be placed on investment in bulk water supply infrastructure projects whilst vigorously assisting municipalities with water reticulation to ensure that unserved communities receive the services they so need.

She said the department has already made some inroads in its efforts to realise water security by unlocking challenges that hindered 14 major water infrastructure projects. 

These includes amongst others:

•  The new R26 billion uMkhomazi Dam to provide urgently needed additional water to eThekwini and surrounding areas in KwaZulu Natal
• The new Polihali Dam, as part of the R42 billion second phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project to provide urgently needed additional water to Gauteng and parts of the Free State, Mpumalanga, North West, and Northern Cape provinces
• The new R8 billion Ntabelanga Dam on a tributary of the uMzimvubu River to provide additional water for irrigation and domestic use in the eastern region of the Eastern Cape.

In ensuring a financial secured and sustainable water sector, she emphasised the need for municipalities to exercise efficient and effective revenue collection across the water value chain. In effecting this, she outlined that municipalities  must be able to sell water to domestic users and local industries while water boards must collect revenue from municipalities for selling treated water and the mooted National Water Resource Infrastructure Agency will complete the puzzle by selling raw water to water boards and major industries.

Minister Majodina decried the escalating debt owed by the municipalities to the water boards which has ballooned to R21.3 billion by May 2024, thus posing a major risk to the financial sustainability of the whole water sector. 

She said this has forced the department’s hand to reconfigure water boards across, with erstwhile Sedibeng Water Board being mostly affected, forcing its disestablishment as it could no longer being able to service its own debts and to meet its operational expenditure requirements.

“It is important to note that it is not all municipalities which are not paying. However, non-payment by a few municipalities which are served by a particular water board can result in severe financial difficulties for that water board. 

One of our immediate priorities will therefore be to work with our colleagues in Cabinet, particularly the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, to find a sustainable solution to this problem”, she emphasised.

In addition, Minister Majodina has called for diversifying the water mix and develop alternative water resources, including increased but sustainable use of groundwater, treating and re-using water from wastewater systems, and seawater desalination. She said due to the localised nature of these technologies, most of these alternative water resources will need to be developed by municipalities.  

“We have established a Water Partnerships Office, in collaboration with the Development Bank of Southern Africa and South African Local Government Association, to provide support to municipalities to establish partnerships with the private sector to develop these local water resource projects. 

The Water Partnerships Office is also currently supporting the eThekwini, Mangaung, Buffalo City, Nelson Mandela Bay and Tshwane municipalities to mobilise private sector finance for the replacement of leaking municipal water distribution pipes which are resulting in high levels of non-revenue water”, added Minister Majodina.

In the 2024/2025 financial year, Minister Majodina highlighted the following as the areas of focus:

• collaborate with the City of Tshwane and Magalies Water to complete the project to provide an alternative source of clean drinking water to Hammanskraal by October 
• intervention through Rand Water to address sewage pollution in the Vaal, particularly by Emfuleni Local Municipality, will also continue.
• expedite the  uMkhomazi project to supply additional water to eThekwini
• assist Zululand District Municipality to implement the R9.5 billion Mandlakazi Bulk Water Supply Scheme to also benefit communities in uMkhanyakude District 
• implement interventions in terms of Section 63 of the Water Services Act in uMkhanyakude and uThukela District Municipalities.
• Accelerate the Giyani Water Supply Project  
• implement the R4.7 billion Phase 1 of the R18 billion Olifants Ebenezer programme, aimed at bringing additional water to Polokwane, Seshego and surrounding areas. 
• implement the R27 billion Olifants River Water Resource Development Project in Limpopo
• implement the Bulela Metsi initiative in North West
• provide support to Sol Plaatje Local Municipality, to a value of R1.4 billion, including providing funding for the Kimberley Bulk Water Supply Project
• implement the R10 billion Vaal Gamagara Phase Two Project in the Northern Cape to provide additional water for mining and communities 
• implement the R1.7 billion Loskop Regional Bulk Water Supply project, which involves the construction of a bulk pipeline from Loskop Dam in Mpumalanga to Thembisile Hani Local Municipality
• intervene in Lekwa Municipality to refurbish, upgrade and optimize water and wastewater treatment infrastructure. 
• provide support to Makana Municipality to address its water and sanitation service challenges and is assisting Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality with the development of Phase 3  of the Nooitgedacht Water Treatment Works. 
• support the Mnquma Municipality to provide water to unserved communities, through the Nqamakhwe Regional Bulk Water Scheme and provide funding to develop the Lower Sundays River, Greater Mbizana, and Ndlambe water schemes. 
• implement Section 63 interventions in Maluti-A-Phofung, Matjhabeng, and Ngwathe local municipalities  

For more information, contact:
Wisane Mavasa
Spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation 
Cell: 060 561 8935
E-mail:mavasaw@dws.gov.za