Q: Can Day Zero be avoided?
A: There are two components we have to deal with. One is water security, which is whether the country will run out of water by, say, 2030 ...
Q: Are you saying there’ll be water security by 2030 or there won’t be?
A: By 2030, the country will not have run out of water.
Q: How are you going to ensure that?
A: For water security, one of the things the country must do, and that’s what we are doing now, is build more water resources infrastructure such as dams.
Q: Weren’t villagers in Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga, who still have dry taps, told the R3.4bn De Hoop dam built in 2014 would give them water security?
A: When it comes to water, remember that we have to balance two components. First there is water security, which is the assurance of water availability, and then there is water services delivery, which is about municipalities discharging their responsibility to provide water to end users. It is with the latter that we are facing our biggest challenges.
Q: Are you going to bring in the private sector faster to help with this?
A: Definitely. They’re already playing an important role because they have the financial and technical capabilities [to assist us]. Most of the problems facing municipalities are about financial viability. That’s why we have to draw funding from the private sector. An example here in Gauteng ...
Q: In many parts of which, including Johannesburg, Day Zero is already a fact of life, isn’t it?
A: No, but we have to use the term Day Zero correctly when it comes to water. Day Zero means that, in terms of availability from the source, there is no water.
Q: Wouldn’t you agree that, for many residents of Gauteng, there is no water — for days, weeks and sometimes months?
A: We have to use the correct nomenclature so we don’t confuse people. In Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and elsewhere, people have taps — probably more than 90% of them. Sometimes those taps run dry and sometimes people are able to get water, so there is an intermittent supply. The biggest problems are operational problems around infrastructure financing and management. We’ve made crucial decisions with the National Treasury to give concessions to the private sector to build, own and operate ...
Q: Gauteng is now losing half its water through leaks, so when will you implement these decisions?
A: For Gauteng, we have decided first to sort out issues of leadership. We meet the premier and mayors every Sunday because there are problems. There’s a technical component ...
Q: You mean Gauteng doesn’t have the technical capacity to deliver water services?
A: There is capacity, but it is inadequate. That is why as the national government we are intervening.
Q: Are you saying you have a problem with the leadership in Gauteng?
A: I never said that. I said we are working with them to ensure we oversee the turnaround of water issues.
Q: Your minister says the water crisis in Gauteng is largely self-inflicted, and she blames the problem on a lack of political will. Would you agree?
A: She’s absolutely correct. Most of the challenges are a result of leaders who make a decision to do nothing about the problem.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.