President Cyril Ramaphosa is demanding a swift crackdown on the so-called ‘water mafia’ known for sabotaging infrastructure to create opportunities for their tankering businesses.
Across the country municipalities are increasingly relying on the tankering businesses to supply water to communities as infrastructure breakdowns become increasingly an everyday occurrence.
Ramaphosa addressed the two-day National Water Indaba at the Galagher Convention Center in Midrand on Thursday and said it was time to confront criminal gangs operating in the sector.
“There are people who make it their business to go and cut water lines to create businesses for themselves so that they can cut water in trucks and tanks to our people.” He adds that “that is the criminality that has now entered the water space, and this is what we need to talk about it here and find ways to bring it to an end,” said Ramaphosa.
The country’s metropolitan municipalities are the most affected as they also experience rapidly rising migration as people move in search of a better life.
The indaba is follows a water summit last year which also identified similar issues as contributing to South Africa’s water problems and Ramaphosa said enough talking has been done and it was now time for action.
“This Indaba must not become an exercise of problem-diagnosing: the challenges are well-known. What is needed is course correction – and comprehensive plan that will expand access to water and sanitation services, improve the quality of water and sanitation infrastructure, and bring stability and good governance to all the entities involved in South Africa’s water stewardship,” said Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa said a number of interventions have already been made including the setting up of presidential working teams to assist the metros of EThekwini and Joburg.
“We have implemented several strategic interventions to enhance the delivery of water services in municipalities and support them to address their water and sanitation challenges. One such intervention where we are seeing sustained progress is with the eThekwini Presidential Working Group in KwaZulu-Natal. The ongoing oversight work of the Presidential Water Task Team will augment these efforts, and I am pleased that some of its members are here today,” he said.