Budget Debate Vote Speech
By Hon. Inkosi Cebekhulu MP
Spokesperson Water and Sanitation
Delivered at Parliament in the E249
Chairperson,
Our water resources are made up of natural and complex systems that demand unique systems of management.
This Department with its national mandate and public trusteeship over our fresh water resource management, infrastructure, quality and pollution prevention responsibilities, currently finds itself at the coal-face of ensuring adequate access to clean water and sanitation in a time of great drought, scarcity and climate change in South Africa.
It is failing in its mandate. It is failing to provide the good governance that is required when addressing the challenges of water preservation and in guiding the entities that it works together with in ensuring equitable access of water to all South Africans.
Poor administration in this department, ‘silo’ management action and daily operations being funded by an overdraft that runs into billions of rands is a management strategy doomed to failure! And the employment of persons in ‘unfunded’ executive management positions without the requisite qualifications only further weakens departmental management and service delivery outputs. Add to this the large number of consultants and the exorbitant fees they charge, instead of using their own engineers and you have a perfect storm.
The sad fact is that Treasury should have stopped releasing funds to the department after they discovered that funds were not being administered properly.
Additionally, the department then went behind Treasury’s back to obtain funds from the Reserve bank.
Chairperson, our freshwater is fast becoming a scarce resource and with its historic uneven distribution throughout the country, and the ever-increasing demand for the resource, the challenge is ever-compounding.
What is required urgently is additional bulk water infrastructure – the construction of dams. Municipalities should then be left to provide services from such infrastructure to their communities.
The release and privatization of water rights, and the control of bulk water infrastructure by some private individuals such as at Jozini dam has been a major mistake and all bulk water resources in private hands should be immediately placed under review and determined whether or not such is in the best interests of South Africa.
The department must also ensure that compliance and enforcement strategies are undertaken and implemented by departmental officials with the requisite skills levels. The current culture of non-payment by both private consumers, state owned companies and entities and some of our municipalities must be rectified.
Chairperson, without water there is no life. It is that simple. Our national water infrastructure must be sufficiently resourced, well maintained, resilient and adaptable.
Benjamin Franklin once remarked that, “When the well is dry, only then we will learn the wealth of water”.
The IFP supports this budget vote debate in the trust that this Department will get its house in order and not fail the people of South Africa in the provision of this precious resource.
I thank you.
The IFP will support the budget vote debate.
I thank you.
Hon Inkosi RN Cebekhulu, MP