Thank you, Chair. Minister, when you go to Tseki which is situated in Maluti-A-Phofung Local Municipality, people there get water on a fortnight basis. My question is, is the department going to continue with applying tankering water to communities as a crisis measure which is already expensive in a country facing water crisis or is the department applying itself to the application of new innovative measures to ensure sustainable and effective water service provision?
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, WATER AND SANITATION: Thank
you. This question is very important. On 26 this month, we intend to put before the country our master plan for water to ensure that the country understand what it is that we are doing about changing the way we do things in making sure that we are dealing with the drought.
One of the things we intend to do in that particular forum of unfolding the master plan is to provide the country with alternative methods of getting water. We have, through our water research council, been able to discover that we can get water from sand. We have also been able to discover that we can get water from the atmosphere in areas where this is possible. And we will be testing that and on 26. We will be putting it out for the
country to see whether it is working or not. We are looking at alternative technologies.
The issue of tankering is an issue that I must discuss through the Minister of the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Cogta with the municipalities. If indeed, as you say that they only get water in a fortnight this is completely inadequate and completely against what the Constitution requires of us to do. We are going to attend to that.
MR L J BASSON: Thank you, Chairperson. Minister, all over the country people are struggling and are without water not just because of draught, but because of infrastructure failure and dysfunctional municipalities. What are you going to do to stop this, to turn this around so that we can deliver water to the people of South Africa?
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, WATER AND SANITATION: The fact
that our people are suffering from lack of water because of an aging infrastructure is something that we all know. We are trying to invest in upgrading our infrastructure and making sure that we get water to everybody. We are trying to find ways of overcoming some of the obstacles that you are mentioning. We are meeting
various stakeholders to explain to them what we are doing. We have met with AgriSA asking them to come onboard and make sure that within the skills sector that they have they are able to assist us. But we stand ready to go out to our communities and make sure that all of them get water. That is our commitment, that is what we have been working on and that is what we continue working on it. Thank you.