Water and sanitation minister Gugile Nkwinti assured parliament on Tuesday that government departments were working closely to try and resolve the massive debts municipalities owe to water boards.
SA has nine water boards, which provide bulk water services to municipalities. Many have been dogged by governance problems, which compound the financial challenges posed by municipalities that fail to pay their accounts.
Last November, then water and sanitation minister Nomvula Mokonyane said water boards were collectively owed R6.8bn for bulk water services. Earlier this year, parliament heard from the auditor-general (AG) that the overall performance of the water boards had deteriorated over the three years to 2016-2017, with four of them — Umgeni Water, Sedibeng Water, Lepelle Water and Mhlathuze Water — regressing in their audit outcomes.
The inter-ministerial task team on electricity reticulation, distribution and monies owed to water trading entities and water boards, chaired by co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Zweli Mkhize, is making progress, said Nkwinti.
“We are dealing with it collectively and there seems to be some progress,” he told parliament’s portfolio committee on water and sanitation.
The department’s deputy director-general, Lindiwe Lusenga, sketched the governance challenges facing the water boards, many of which have been hobbled by board-level instability, and highlighted the risks posed by local municipalities’ failure to pay their accounts.
Sedibeng Water, for example, is owed R2.6bn by municipalities, and in turn owes the department of water and sanitation R2bn, Lusenga said. It has imposed water restrictions in terms of the Water Services Act, which allows it to limit water supplies to defaulting municipalities.
Bloem Water is owed R917m by municipalities, and a further R82m by the department of water and sanitation, she said. “This has had a serious impact on the cash flow, financial status and operation of the board.”
DA MP Leon Basson said parliament should call Mkhize to explain why municipalities continue to rack up massive debts to water boards, and insist that he provide a plan to tackle the problem. “We cannot go on year after year with municipalities owing [so much money to water boards]. It will become such a disaster you will not be able to fix it.”
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