(1) The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) provides financial support to the Ugu District Municipality in the form of the Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG) to deal with its water supply challenges. Since the inception of the WSIG in the 2015/16 financial year up to the 2020/21 financial year, the DWS has allocated R378.68 million to the municipality.
An allocation of R50 million was provided to the municipality in the current financial year to implement the Non-Revenue Water Reduction Project aimed at reducing water losses. It is envisaged that the project will be completed by June 2021.
In addition the DWS is working with the Provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) and Umgeni Water to support the Ugu DM in conducting an assessment of the most suitable water services provision arrangements in the area.
(2) The provincial CoGTA department is conducting an assessment of water services infrastructure to determine the refurbishment requirements and is in the process of developing a Provincial Water Master plan. These interventions will assist in aligning and prioritizing grant funding to effectively address the challenges being experienced. In order to address the significant challenges facing water services in the Ugu DM area, a task team has also recently been established.
