Thank you.
Question 262:
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, WATER AND SANITATION: Thank you
very much, Chairperson. The question asks about what am I going to do to intervene to ensure that the community of Tseki in Maluti-A- Phofung Local Municipality in the Thabo Mofutsanyane District get reliable water supply. My job is specifically worked out in law as making sure that the country's water resources are protected, managed, used, developed, conserved and controlled in a sustainable way to benefit all our people. I am very conscious of the fact that we do not all have equal access to water which is a right. Therefore, I had indicated in my Budget Vote that one of the things I wanted to do is to get a legislation that will transform access to water.
However, in terms of the Water Services Act of 1997, it prescribes that the municipality itself has a responsibility to ensure that it provides water to that particular municipality that it is responsible for. From time to time municipalities are not able to do this for several reasons either they do not have the capacity, they are dealing with aging infrastructure or perhaps they are dealing with the current drought that we are experiencing.
What I am going to do is to make sure that I deal with this matter by going to Mofutsanyane with the member who has asked this question. But I want you to know that for this particular area we have already given R50 million to the regional bulk infrastructure to make sure that the area within which Qwaqwa is located is equipped with making sure that it can test the yield of the resources that have been given to them. This money had been used in the past to make sure that boreholes are dug and make sure that out of these boreholes we are able to purify water and make sure that everybody is connected to this. In the meantime however we are very conscious of the fact that most of our communities are suffering the effects of drought which started in 2017, and we are dealing with these on a case by case basis. We would like you as a Member of Parliament to join us in making sure that we are able to provide this to the people of Qwaqwa. Thank you very much.