Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation Judith Tshabalala says the government is committed to enhancing the delivery of consistent and reliable water supply, as well as dignified sanitation facilities for all.
She was speaking during a panel discussion themed: “Access to housing, water and sanitation as safeguards for human dignity and enjoyment of other rights,” which took place on the sidelines of the National Conference on Human Rights in South Africa hosted by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development on March 18-20, at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg.
This, as many parts of the country battling with water outages.
She said over the past 30 years, the Department of Water and Sanitation has developed and implemented various support programmes which have assisted municipalities across the country to ensure the provision of basic human rights services.
Tshabalala acknowledged that although more work still needs to done, the Department of Water and Sanitation will continue to work collaboratively with all the spheres of government and its entities to ensure effective implementation of mega water and sanitation projects across the Country.
“We manage two conditional grants, namely, Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) and Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG), which are aimed at supporting municipalities to develop their water and sanitation infrastructure and to address backlogs of infrastructure and access to water services,” she said.
She said in KwaZulu-Natal, the Department is actively supporting the uMkhanyakude, uThukela, Amajuba, Ugu, uMzinyathi, King Cetswayo, uMgungudlovu, and uMsunduzi municipalities to improve their water and sanitation services, with projects of approximately R2 billion in total.
The Mercury